


Artificial Love

by Haalyle



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-05-11 17:22:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5635429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haalyle/pseuds/Haalyle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The person who's been hit with an arrow will have uncontrollable desire with the first person they see," Tails explained. "... Alright, I can see why Amy was annoyed that her 'plan', whatever that was, didn't work." When Shadow's the first person Sonic sees, things happen that he can't understand. Is this the real feeling of love or is it artificial? Sonadow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Artifical Love

Amy Rose wasn't born an archer, but here she was aiming an arrow directly at her blue hero. Her arms shook with nervous as she tried to calmly aim. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and opened them again to make sure he was still at the same place he was when she'd closed her eyes. She hid in the bushes, making sure to stay out of sight next to the bright pink flowers that bloomed next to her.

Her arm weaved again and she sighed. _I'm not giving up! I have one chance for this and I know I can do it..._ She held her arms up in a sudden rise of courage as she let go of the string and felt the arrow propel out of the bow.

The arrow hit the back of Sonic's head. A pained cry escaped the azure hedgehog as he felt the back of his head to find out what had hit him.

"Too bad the arrow missed your knee Faker," Shadow muttered darkly as he walked from behind the blue hedgehog and in front of him.

"Shut up," Sonic hissed in pain as he grabbed hold of the arrow and yanked it out of his head, once again crying out in pain, "Who the heck shot an arrow at me?!"

"I wouldn't have a clue," Shadow simply stated, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched the blue hedgehog examine the arrow.

"A.R. I know those initials... Amy!" Sonic suddenly gasped, his eyes widening as he turned a full 360, looking for the pink hedgehog.

The pink hedgehog jumped out of the flowery bushes and ran up to the blue hedgehog, attempting to glomp him. He dashed away from her and looked back to notice she had stopped running after him.

He held the arrow up, "What were you thinking, shooting this at me? To kill me?!"

"No," Amy spoke up quickly, slightly angered that her plans had been ruined, "But if you really want to know, I suggest you read Greek mythology." She gave Shadow an angry glare and turned around, walking away.

 _What the hell?_ Shadow thought, not exactly sure why she had looked at him so angrily. He looked back at the confused azure hedgehog.

"Greek mythology?" Sonic asked to no one in particular, "What does that have to do with arrows?"

"Just a suggestion Faker, ask your fox friend," Shadow dully said before leaving the azure hedgehog alone.

* * *

"And the only clue she gives me is to 'read Greek mythology'," Sonic chuckled in a sarcastic manner, "As if."

"Hm..." Tails hummed as he closely examined the arrow. It was all silver with a gold tip. A.R. was engraved on the side of it. "Maybe there's something on the tip," He guessed standing up and heading to one of his inventions.

What looked very much like a microwave was what he put the arrow into. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel on the side of the machine. It turned on and smothered the arrow with a bright light.

"It'll be done in a few minutes," Tails explained as he grabbed the Miles Electric and searched up things regarding arrows and Greek mythology.

Sonic waited impatiently as Tails did his research.

"I'm guessing by what Amy is talking about it might have something to do with Cupid's Arrows," Tails muttered, still looking at his device.

"Who?"

"Cupid's most notably a god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. It's said that he has two different types of arrows. The one that Amy modeled was with a gold tip, which is said that person who gets hit with it has 'uncontrollable desire'," Tails read, he looked up and shook his head, "I have no idea if it's a normal arrow or not until I get the results."

Sonic put a hand on his hip and sighed, "Ah Amy, always up to something. I don't quite understand why she looked so angrily at Shadow though."

"Some people believe that it's kind of a 'love at first sight' thing. Meaning, the person who's been hit with an arrow will have uncontrollable desire with the first person they see," Tails explained.

"... Alright, I can see why Amy was annoyed that her 'plan', whatever that was, didn't work," Sonic said, slightly surprised, "If it goes off of that logic... she wasn't the first person I saw."

Tails nodded and a ding came from the 'microwave'. He got up and looked at the information given to him on his Miles Electric. He gave a slight gasp as if surprised.

"She certainly put something on this... and by the looks of it it's very similar to that 'story'," Tails said as took the arrow out of the 'microwave', "I'll do more tests with this to see what she's exactly done."

"Cool. Tell me when you're done," Sonic said quickly as he ran out of the house.

Tails rolled his eyes as he went to his workshop.

* * *

"There's still blood on your quills Faker," Shadow pointed out as he watched the azure hedgehog approach him.

Sonic shrugged, simply not caring, "It's easy to wash off."

"Oh right... you're terrified of water. How pathetic."

Sonic glared at him, "What are you doing around here anyway? It's not like you to just be wandering around."

"I can do what I want Faker," Shadow simply muttered, turning away from Sonic, clearly annoyed.

_I wonder how clean he is... what he would act like in a shower..._

An imagine of Shadow came into his mind. The ebony hedgehog showing in steaming hot water, steam radiating off of him. His hands brushing through his quills, soaping them and water streaming down them.

Sonic shook his head. _Really?_ "See you around Shads!"

"Don't call me that!" Shadow muttered darkly, still looking away from the blue hedgehog.

Sonic shrugged and walked away from the ebony hedgehog. _Thoughts like this are not normal... I'm blaming it on Amy._ Sonic shook his head once again and noticed that he had stopped running completely and was just staring at the ground. _This is ridiculous..._


	2. Uncontrollable Desire

Tails heard a muffled voice from within the living room, making him somewhat confused. Of course, he could easily guess that it was Sonic, but he had no clue what the hedgehog was saying.

He walked into the living room slowly and quietly, as if he were walking on fallen leaves that would crunch upon being stepped on. He found the azure hedgehog lying on the couch, his face stuffed into a pillow.

"Sonic..." Tails said as softly and as quietly as he could.

Sonic's ear perked up upon hearing his name. He turned his face to look at the young fox. He had a look of confusion on his face and some slight frustration.

"What is it, Tails?" Sonic asked, his voice slightly shaken as if worried.

"Are you alright? It looked like you were suffocating yourself," Tails explained as he pointed at the pillow his friend was holding.

Sonic heaved out a large sigh, turning over onto his back and looking at the ceiling, looking completely hopeless. He threw the pillow out of his hand, which landed on the ground next to the couch.

Tails was about to say something when Sonic, instead, talked.

"Ugh... I can't stop thinking about him," A small blush rose on the azure hedgehog's cheeks, as if suddenly fantasizing, "I try to think of other things, but he always comes to my mind... what can I do, Tails? This is just... crazy."

"From the the various ingredients of chemicals on the tip of that arrow, there's not really anything I can do. However, it should wear off soon. When soon is, however, I have no clue," Tails explained, picking the pillow up from the ground. He frowned, "The only thing I can suggest is do something that usually keeps your mind off of things."

Sonic sat up and nodded, "Yeah, that's sounds like a good suggestion lil' bro. I'm going to go out for a run."

Tails nodded and watched as Sonic exited the house, hoping nothing bad would happen.

* * *

He ran along a footpath that looked over a beach. The sun was setting and from the view, it looked like it was drowning in the ocean. The area was covered in a dark yellow/orange colour that went along with green leaves conveying the summer setting rather well. He slowed down his pace to look at the setting sun. He stopped near a bench and sat down on it, taking a short break.

The sky had a rather purple tint as the day slowly turned to night. The sun was barely looking over the horizon when Sonic decided to stand, only being stopped from his journey back by a pink hedgehog.

Sonic become slightly angered at Amy's appearance, "What?" He asked in a ruder tone than he had intended.

"Did you find out what I was talking about?" Amy asked, her hands on her hips as she looked at him, rather aggravated.

"Yes I did," Sonic simply replied and tried to walk away from her, but she grabbed hold of his arm. His head snapped back to look at her, clearly irritated.

"Look, I made the formula and I can reverse it..."

"But...?"

"I'll give it to you only if you promise you'll go on a date with me," Amy said, a faint smile appearing on her muzzle.

"Now I just believe that this whole thing _was_ part of your plan," Sonic rolled his eyes, pulling his arm away from her grip, "No, I will not agree to that deal."

Amy turned around quickly and gave a sharp laugh, "Ha, well I'd like to see how you _deal_ with your uncontrollable desire." And with that said, she walked away from him.

 _Fine, I accept the challenge._ Sonic thought to himself as he went on his way back to the house.

* * *

"How was your run?" Tails asked curiously as he washed up a plate in the sink.

"It went well," Sonic replied, deciding not to tell Tails about his encounter with Amy.

"Clear your mind?"

"For now," Sonic joked and Tails laughed along.

* * *

_**Red eyes glowed the darkness, hovering just above him.** _

_**"What is it that you desire Faker?" A deep voice growled near his ear, before he felt hands brush through his quills and go down to his waist.** _

Sonic's eyes opened wide. He looked left and right and sighed with relief when he found no one else in the room with him. The only light illuminating the room was from the moon. He sat up and shook his head.

_What the hell was that? I can't tell if it was a nightmare or not._

Sonic wasn't at all sure, which caused him to become baffled. _I can't lose sleep over this... I'll go back to sleep and if I dream something similar, I'll just wake up and go out for a run._

He sighed before he laid back down and closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.

_**It was as if he had been put into a middle of a fight. He was unprepared for the attack Shadow had thrown at him, causing him to trip over and land face first into the ground.** _

_**He coughed from having the air taken out of his lungs suddenly and sat up on one knee as he stood up on the other. He turned around to face the ebony hedgehog.** _

_**"Thanks for the surprise attack," He muttered sarcastically before he began to run and spin dash the ebony hedgehog. He knocked Shadow onto the ground and stood there looking over him.** _

_**"Ha," Sonic laughed, dusting his hands, "I guess you really are the Fake."** _

_**Shadow just lay there. He didn't attack as Sonic had been expecting, he just looked up at the azure hedgehog as if waiting for something.** _

_**Things came into Sonic's mind that he never thought he would think...** _

_But wait... it's a dream..._

The sun shone through the window and woke Sonic up. He lay there and looked at the ceiling. He was thankful that the sun had awoken him from his 'dream', he didn't dare think what may have happened next.

"That was... some weird dreams," Sonic muttered under his breath as he got off the bed and headed to the kitchen where Tails was already cooking breakfast.

"How'd you sleep?" Tails asked as he continued to focus on the frying pan he was cooking with.

"Alright," Sonic said, putting on a smile as to not worry his best friend. _It's not like I slept badly, I just had... weird dreams... that's all._

"Hope you don't mind pancakes," Tails said.

But Sonic wasn't paying any attention. He sat there and was staring at the wall, wondering why he had those dreams, what they meant...

"Mobius to Sonic," Tails laughed, waving a hand in front of his friend's eyes.

Sonic smiled, "I think I'm preparing for take-off."

Tails just laughed as he put a plate of pancakes in front of the blue hedgehog. Sonic happily smiled at Tails.

"Thanks lil' bro! You always make the best pancakes."

Tails faintly blushed from the compliment, "Thanks."

"Didn't have any weird dreams last night?" Tails asked his friend curiously, as he began to eat his own plate of pancakes.

Sonic did his best to hide the surprise from his face, he shook his head and continued to smile as he watched Tails eat, "No, thankfully."

"It's easy to tell when you're lying Sonic," Tails said, looking up and frowning slightly.

Sonic rolled his eyes. He put up two fingers, "I had two weird dreams, but I didn't loose sleep over them, so they weren't too bad."

"Tell me about them," Tails said, finishing his last pancake and taking hold of a note-pad and pen to jot down notes.

 _Where'd he get that from anyway?_ "Uh... well," Sonic nervously muttered, "I kind of don't want to think about it."

"OK," Tails put on a smile, "That's alright."

"Thanks," Sonic smirked, glad his best friend didn't try to pry any further. He stood up, "Thanks for breakfast by the way! I'll be out, you know where abouts I'll be."

When he saw Tails nod, he took off out of the house.

* * *

Amy's smug smile was the last thing he wanted to see, but there it was, on her face as if she'd won a prize.

"You coming back because you can't handle it?" She asked.

Sonic laughed slightly, "Nope."

Amy's smile slightly drooped, "Then why are you here?"

The blue hedgehog shrugged, "No particular reason. But I would really love to know what you _actual_ plan was."

Amy's smile fully turned down, she looked at the floor and sighed, her shoulder slouching, "I want to be the first person you saw. Then I wanted us to hang out..."

"And you believe _artificial_ feelings will work?"

"Well, it's working with you for Shadow, isn't it?" The pink hedgehog smiled, a hand on her hip.

Sonic groaned and turned away from her, waving a hand into the air, "Thanks," He said simply and ran off.

 _He'll be running back to me and then I'll get that date I've dreamt about for all these years!_ Amy thought, smiling dreamily as she closed the door.

* * *

He had been noticed. There was no backing away from it now. Shadow walked over to him and it was something Sonic deeply wished he wouldn't do. He didn't want to face his counterpart this way... it just wouldn't feel right.

"Why are you looking away from me Faker? Am I really not that nice to look at?" Shadow asked, standing behind the azure hedgehog.

An image of Shadow popped up into his head. His perfect red streaks contrasting against his black coloured quills stood out the most.

"Faker?"

 _I've gotta stop spacing out like that,_ Sonic thought as he put on a smirk as Shadow stood in front of him, an unreadable expression on the ebony hedgehog's face.

Some odd feeling of wanting to hug the ebony hedgehog filled up the azure hedgehog, bringing a warm fuzzy feeling with it. Sonic's lips became dry as he examined Shadow. His gaze went from looking at the ebony hedgehog's dark red eyes and looked down to Shadow's hover shoes.

"What are you looking at?" Shadow asked dully, snapping Sonic's head up to look him in the eyes.

"You, obviously," Sonic replied, sarcastically. He felt slightly light headed from trying his best not to leap onto Shadow. He didn't want Shadow to think he had gone crazy.

"Right," Shadow crossed his arms over his chest, "Amy told me to talk with you, I have no clue why."

"Did she really?" Sonic put a hand on his hip, _damn her_ , "Well, it's definitely a change of you just wanting to _talk_ to me."

Shadow looked over Sonic's shoulder, "She is over there after all," He said, point over Sonic's shoulder.

Sonic shrugged, keeping his attention on Shadow, "I've already talked to her earlier this morning," He licked his lips as his gaze on the ebony hedgehog moved to his mouth. _Oh man, I really want to taste those lips..._

It was getting harder to control his desire for the ebony hedgehog. He wanted him so desperately, he didn't care if he kissed him in public. He didn't care who would see him...

Shadow was looking at him with a slight look of confusion, "You're acting differently Faker."

"Am I now?" Sonic asked in a rather alluring tone, licking his lips once again. He felt oddly hot.

Shadow crossed his arms, "I have no idea -"

Sonic couldn't hold it in anymore. His heart was beating fast and he could feel his cheeks heat up with the idea of kissing the ebony hedgehog. He just _had_ to do it.


	3. More then Bargained For

Shadow grunted as Sonic landed on top of him, causing the ebony hedgehog's quills to spread over the grass. He looked up at the azure hedgehog, annoyed at his sudden 'attack'.

"What are you -"

Sonic planted his lips onto Shadow's, shutting the ebony hedgehog up. Sonic's body was only just above Shadow's, a small gap between the two. Shadow's eyes were wide, he put his hands onto Sonic's chest and pushed him off. However, Sonic's hands were gripping onto Shadow's shoulder, as soon as the azure hedgehog was pushed off, he dragged the ebony hedgehog with him.

Sonic looked up at his counterpart, who was sitting above him. Sonic looked at Shadow with half-lidded eyes, licking the saliva from the corners of his mouth.

"What were you thinking?!" Shadow asked the hedgehog below him outraged.

"You don't know about Cupid's arrow?" Sonic asked, alluringly.

"Who?" Shadow asked, getting off the blue hedgehog and keeping his distance away, ready for an sudden attacks.

A disappointing look washed over Sonic's face, as he picked himself up off of the grass. He stood up and looked at the ebony hedgehog. _What the hell was I thinking?_

"Cupid, basically the god of love as I've been told," Sonic explained. His ears perked up when he heard someone yelling his name from behind and afar.

Tails was running up to the two hedgehogs, surprised at what he had just witnessed. He realized he was going to have to keep his best friend away from Shadow, it was for his own good after all.

"And what's this about his arrows?" Shadow asked Sonic darkly, ignoring Tails approach.

"It's said that who ever gets hit by his arrow that has a gold tip will have an 'uncontrollable desire' for the first person they see," Sonic explained, putting his hand on his hip to make it seem as if he was having a casual conversation.

Shadow had already pieced together the information. He realized why Amy had told him to talk to Sonic. It had seemed she was just building her plan up. He kept an unreadable expression, suddenly realizing a wetness around his mouth. He rubbed a hand over his mouth to wash away the saliva. _Idiot, trying to kiss me..._

Tails grabbed hold of Sonic's arm, who was paying no attention to his friend. He tried pulling the azure hedgehog away from Shadow, but Sonic was standing his ground and not moving. His full attention was Shadow and he seemed to laugh at Tails for what he was trying to do.

"Leave me alone Tails," Sonic muttered in a slightly irritated tone. The only thing Sonic cared about was Shadow... the only thing he thought about was Shadow. No one else mattered. He didn't care about anyone else.

Tails' arms dropped to his sides. There wasn't any use in trying to drag Sonic away. There was something about Sonic's body language that told him he didn't care. And Tails decided that if Shadow did decided to hurt him physically, he wouldn't care. Or at least, he hoped that's how he would act. Tails turned away from Sonic and flew away, leaving in a somewhat sad mood.

"You should really go and apologize to him Faker, he cares heaps about you heaps more than I ever will," Shadow muttered darkly. Not saying anything more, he disappeared, Chaos Controlling away from the azure hedgehog.

Left completely alone, wondering exactly what had happened, Sonic looked around and noticed Amy staring at him. Although she looked surprised, she looked somewhat happy, as if knowing that things wouldn't work between the two.

Frustrated and left with nothing to do but to go back to the house, Sonic headed back, wondering where exactly Shadow had gone.

* * *

Tails was no where to be found. He wasn't in the house, he wasn't even in his workshop, where he normally was. Sonic decided that if Tails was in any real danger, he'd at least leave something to tell him.

It was odd feeling completely alone. Of course, he was alone before he had made any friends, but that was different. It felt like he had no one to talk to.

But the desire for Shadow overtook all these feelings and concerns. And he was beginning to get annoyed with it.

 _I can't go on a date with Amy, that would the death of me... but being like this... I already feel kind of dead_. Sonic didn't exactly know what to do.

* * *

"Are you doing this for your own pleasure?" Shadow asked the pink hedgehog in a slightly puzzled tone.

Amy shook her head as she giggled. She sat on the bench over looking the ocean, a leg crossed over the other and an arm resting on the arm rest.

"No, this wasn't what I planning at all, but I must say it makes an excellent plan B," She smiled gleefully.

Shadow crossed his arms, not amused at all with Amy. It was hard enough just plainly talking to Sonic, now it was hardly bearable. He stood behind the bench, but focused on the pink hedgehog.

"I suspect that you know a way to reverse these effects, but you aren't just going to plainly give them out," Shadow muttered.

Amy nodded, "Yep!"

"You've seen some of the things I've done Amy, what makes you thinking I won't do them to you?" Shadow asked, intensely.

Amy simply shrugged, showing no signs of fear, "However, if you want to know the price for this thing, I'll easily tell you."

"You want Sonic to date you, it's not hard to see," Shadow rolled his eyes. _She's crazy._

"So, I see you're making a deal with the devil," Sonic joked, standing behind Shadow.

They both turned around to face the azure hedgehog. He grinned, waving at them.

"Couldn't find Tails, any clue as to where he may have gone?" Sonic asked them curiously.

Amy looked somewhat surprised, "He's not in his workshop?"

Sonic shook his head, putting a frown on his muzzle, "Nope, he's not there and I've checked everywhere he would be otherwise, but he's not there either."

Amy stood up as if suddenly remembering something she had forgot, "Can I talk to you later, I have somewhere to be!" She said to Shadow quickly and without waiting for a reply, walked off, along the path away from them.

"She was off in a hurry," Sonic commented and then smirked as he looked at Shadow, "So, what were you guys talking about?"

Shadow gave a small shake of his head, "None of your business Faker."

"Of course," Sonic chuckled, he then scratched the back of his head nervously, "I would apologize to Tails, but I can't find him. And I feel I owe you an apology for attempting to kiss you before," He chuckled again as a faint blush rose into his cheeks.

"Don't do it again."

"Well, I can't really promise that," Sonic commented, putting on a seductive smirk, "I do admit that you do taste kind of nice though."

Shadow kept his sudden interest hidden. _Of the two seconds his mouth was on mine and he'd taken the time to taste my mouth, obviously he didn't kiss me long enough..._ He wasn't too sure on how to respond, so he stayed quiet.

"Aw, too nervous to admit that you'd much rather I spend a longer time kissing you just to see if you really taste as nice as I say you do," Sonic shrugged, "It's true though and I would totally kiss you for 24 hours straight and never get bored of how you taste, you are just that sweet."

Shadow rolled his eyes, "In your dreams Faker."

"Oh, but I do dream about it," Sonic purred, winking at him.

 _Faker the Flirter... not doing a good job at it,_ "Then you truly are a creep."

"Aw," Sonic put on a face of hurt, "I don't have in-depth dreams about you, if that's what you mean." _At least not yet._

"You're creep just dreaming about me," Shadow stated, backing into the seat, tripping slightly.

It was a reflex to automatically close his eyes as he prepared for the impact. Instead, he found that hadn't back onto the bench, rather a hand held him by the waist and pulled him away from the bench.

Sonic looked down at Shadow with a reassuring grin, "How's that Chaos Control working for you Shads?"

"Unhand me," Shadow grunted, standing up straight.

"No thanks huh? What did I expect from the 'Ultimate Lifeform'?" Sonic simply shrugged turning around from the ebony hedgehog. He felt a jet of energy hit him in the back of his legs, causing him to land face first into the ground. Sonic sat up on one knee and turned to look at Shadow, "Thanks for the surprise attack."

"There's my thanks," Shadow said to the azure hedgehog.

Sonic dusted his knees as he stood up, "That was kind of a 'pathetic' thanks," He mocked, turning to face the ebony hedgehog, wondering if should attack back. _Nah, I'm not in the mood for a fight at the moment._

Shadow growled at him, angry at his mockery.

"Relax Shads, I was simply playing around," Sonic explained and waved a hand, "I'm not the mood for a fight anyway, I need to find where Tails has gone."

Sonic turned around, but Shadow had teleported in front of him. Sonic smirked, playfully.

"Want my attention that badly huh?"

Shadow shook his head, muttering silently, "That's the last think _I'd_ want."

"Than what you you want? I'm busy here," Sonic said in an impatient manner, and yet enjoying the attention.

Shadow stayed in front of him, wondering exactly why he had decided to do it. _Am I really considering letting this crazy Faker kiss me again... why? What good could possibly come from it?_

"Shads? You in there buddy?" Sonic asked with a laugh, "You're nearly as bad as me. Amy didn't hit you with an arrow either I hope."

"She wouldn't dare do such a thing," Shadow growled angrily.

"I suggest moving aside, unless you want me to kiss you again," Sonic joked, making kissing noises.

Shadow side-stepped away from him, "I'd rather not have another slobbery mess of a mouth on mine for today."

"But maybe this mouth of mine will be on yours for another," Sonic smirked before running off.

_Maybe..._

* * *

"Tails?!" Sonic yelled out when he got into the house, walking into the living room. He found Tails sitting on the couch, looking at his Miles Electric.

"Hi Sonic," Tails said dully, continuing to look at the device.

"I had no clue where you were."

"It didn't seem like you cared to be honest," Tails muttered, his voice cracking slightly as his throat tightened up, his eyes threatening to spill tears.

"C'mon, I'll always care about you Tails," Sonic said as he went to sit next to the kitsune.

Tails moved away from his best friend, refusing to look at him.

"I..."

"I don't know Sonic, it seemed like the only thing you really cared about was Shadow. I felt like I didn't even know who you were anymore..." Tails said quietly.

"I'm really sorry Tails. I didn't mean to hurt you... I didn't mean to push you away," Sonic said, his smile fading away. It hurt him when Tails had moved away.

Tails wiped his eyes, putting a smile a forced smile on his face, "Don't worry about it Sonic. I suppose I can blame it on Amy like everyone else."

Sonic laughed, hugging the young fox, "Don't blame anyone... although it really is her fault."

Tails laughed lightly.

"So, what are you looking at?" Sonic asked the fox curiously.

"Nothing important," Tails replied, turning the device off and looking at his best friend, "Wanna go out and get some chili dogs?"

"Sounds like a great plan!" Sonic smiled, standing up and running out of the house.

"Don't forget to get me extra cheese!" Tails yelled out as he followed after.

* * *


	4. For the Love of Kissing

Sonic stared out the window, looking into the blue sky, watching as the clouds flew by. But it wasn't the sky he was interested in. He was thinking of Shadow, wondering if he was going to be there tonight. At the party.

 _I don't think he will. Amy wouldn't like it at all_ , Sonic thought as he cupped a hand under his chin, _I wish he was though_.

"Stop daydreaming Sonic, we better get going otherwise we're going to be late," Tails laughed, snapping the blue hedgehog out of his trance.

Sonic turned around to look at the young kitsune and smiled, "Oh yeah, sure. What did you get her anyway?"

"I made her this," Tails said, showing Sonic what appeared to be a plain white compact.

"Make-up. Doesn't she have enough of this?" Sonic asked, rolling his eyes.

Tails pressed a small button, that could hardly been seen. The compact transformed into a small yo-yo. Spike grew out of both sides, surprising Sonic.

"Was not expecting that," He commented, "That's a little dangerous, don't you think?"

"She wanted me to make her one and you know what she's like when she doesn't get her way," Tails explained, pressing the button once again and it turned back into a compact.

"All too well," Sonic shook his head slowly and sighed, "Suppose we better get moving... but don't blame me if we're late."

"You're going to go as slow as possible?" Tails asked with a laugh as he opened the front door.

"Well duh," Sonic groaned, his shoulder's slumped as he walked out with Tails.

 _Great... we aren't late at all! We're early!_ Sonic looked at the young kitsune angrily.

"What? I suppose I forgot to change the time," Tails said with a small smile.

 _He totally did it on purpose_.

The room they were in was covered in pink. The words 'Happy Birthday Amy' were spread along the ceiling with balloons dropping down beside them. There was a large table in the center of the room, around about ten chairs were sitting around it.

Sonic kicked a fallen balloon aside, making it pop. The sound came so suddenly, he jumped and stood a stiff as a stick, "I... did not mean to do that."

Tails just laughed as he sat down in one of the many seats, messing around with a pink napkin.

Sonic turned around and froze once again. _He actually came_. The ebony hedgehog stood at the frame of the door. _I better not be hallucinating!_

"What are you looking are Faker?" Shadow asked dully as he entered into the room, walking past the azure hedgehog.

"Nothing..." Sonic trailed off as he watched Shadow walk past him. His gaze looking down at the ebony hedgehog's tail. _'Nothing'... yeah right._

Shadow turned around and grunted. He rolled his eyes as he sat down on a seat further down the table. He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked away from the guests.

"Looking a bit stiff there Big Blue," Rouge muttered from behind Sonic.

Sonic pretended he didn't hear her and walked away, taking a seat next to Tails.

* * *

 _OK... gotta keep quiet and I should be able to escape_ , Sonic sneaked around the corner, heading towards the exit. Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Sonic!" Amy called out happily. He could heard footsteps running towards him.

"That's it, I'm outta here!" He said loudly, running out through the exit and around the side of the building.

"Fine, I'll get Shadow," She muttered, returning back into the building.

Sonic sat underneath the window, sighing with slight relief. He'd much rather face the ebony hedgehog rather than the pink one.

"Faker..."

The voice came from above. Sonic looked up and found Shadow looking down at him from the window.

"What are you doing?"

"It's a little thing called hiding. I'm sort of playing hide n' seek by myself," Sonic chuckled, looking down at the grass.

"Amy wants you back in here," Shadow bluntly stated.

Sonic shook his head, "Nope. I've seen what she can do with that yo-yo..."

"Is that worse than her hammer?"

Sonic looked back up at Shadow, a look of 'what do you think' on his face.

Shadow disappeared from Sonic's view, vanishing behind the window.

Sonic continued to look at the grass. _I could leave now... but I don't want to leave Tails all alone, although I'm sure she wouldn't harm him in the slightest._

A shadow cast over him, making him look up.

"Damn it Shadow, you're blocking my sun," Sonic jokily complained, standing up and putting a hand on his hip to retrain himself, "What do you want?"

"Are there any other reasons as to why you're out here rather than to just get away from Amy?" Shadow asked.

"I don't want to make a complete fool of myself," Sonic explained, his smile disappearing.

"Aren't you already?"

"That's not what I mean, but since we are out here... just the two of us..." Sonic said, giving Shadow a wink, walking up to the ebony hedgehog, "I'm going into the bushes." He walked past the ebony hedgehog and into the forest like land. He went behind a bunch of trees.

 _What?_ Shadow stared at the forest, not sure what Sonic was doing.

"And I thought I was oblivious." Shadow heard from behind the trees.

Curious, Shadow went behind the trees to look at Sonic who was just casually leaning against one.

"What are you doing Faker?"

Sonic gave Shadow a quick smirk before launching himself upon the ebony hedgehog. Sonic pinned Shadow onto the ground, his knees pushing against Shadow's waist, his hands holding onto Shadow's shoulders. He looked down at the ebony hedgehog below him.

"This time, don't push me," Sonic purred, playfully. He lowered down onto Shadow and slowly kissed him on the lips, moving his mouth slowly and playfully flicking his tongue in and out of Shadow's mouth.

Shadow closed his eyes, moving his hand up onto Sonic's waist, pulling him down, completely onto him.

Sonic's eyes opened wide for a split second with surprise, before closing again and kissing Shadow passionately, waiting desperately for the ebony hedgehog to kiss back. _C'mon, I know you want it..._

A moan of pleasure escaped the azure hedgehog as Shadow's mouth moved rhythmically with his, both of their tongues clashing against each other. Sonic's hands moved away from Shadow's shoulders and into the ebony hedgehog's quills, brushing the back slightly as he moved his body into a more comfortable position.

Soon, breathing through his nose wasn't enough, he had to pull away for air otherwise he would pass out. Sonic backed away slowly, leaving a string of saliva from his tongue to Shadow's mouth. Sonic opened his eyes and smiled down at the ebony hedgehog.

 _I want more... I want hundreds more!_ Sonic's mind was yelling at him. Shadow was a like a drug, when you have him once, you have to have him again and forever. _Even better, he's_ _ **my**_ _drug._

Sonic stroked through Shadow's quills softly as Shadow opened his eyes. Red locked onto Green. There was a lustful look in Shadow red eyes as he looked into Sonic's.

Sonic put a finger over Shadow's lips, "Shh... we'll do more when we're somewhere that's a little more private."

Sonic was about to stand up, but was dragged back down by the ebony hedgehog. Shadow's arms went over Sonic's back, positioned in a hug gesture. Sonic smirked as he looked at Shadow, who forced Sonic's lips onto his, forcing the azure hedgehog into another kiss.

But, of course, Sonic didn't mind. He didn't mind at all.

Rather... it was Amy who minded.

A scream filled both of the hedgehog's ears as he abruptly stopped kissing, their heads turning to the maker of the sound.

"What did you expect Amy?" Sonic asked the pink hedgehog in a playful manner, getting himself off of the ebony hedgehog and running away before she could take out her weapon.

Amy looked angry, her eyes were filled with fire as her glare turned to the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow stood up silently, constantly looking at her.

"You... you just went ahead and let him kiss you..." Amy said, pulling her hammer out from behind her.

Shadow chuckled, "Well... at least he kissed me." And with that, he vanished before Amy could land a hit.

 _This is the exact opposite of how I wanted my birthday to go,_ Amy thought as she put her hammer away, _then again... it's all technically my fault._

* * *

"Where were you?" Tails asked Sonic with slight suspicion as he returned to the house just as the sun had set.

"Don't worry about it Tails," Sonic smiled widely, walking past the fox and back to where he had been sitting, watching the clouds.

Tails hummed, not entirely sure if his friend was being truthful. He walked into the living room and smiled, "Maybe I shouldn't have made that yo-yo for Amy."

"You think!" Sonic said loudly, turning to look at his best friend, "She's probably going to use that more than her hammer and that's not something I'm looking forward to."

"So... uh... how's you 'uncontrollable desire' coming along?" Tails asked, some what curiously.

"Why do you ask little bro?"

"Well... you and Shadow weren't there when we were giving Amy her birthday presents and you guys didn't return, I can only guess something happened," Tails explained.

Sonic chuckled, "I'll tell you a different time."

Tails frowned with disappointment, his ears drooping down, "It's because I'm too young isn't it?"

"Too right!" Sonic laughed loudly, pulling Tails into a hug.

"You will tell me soon though, right?"

"If you really want to know, all we did was kiss," Sonic simply replied, letting go of the young fox.

Tails look slightly shocked, "Shadow _actually_ let you kiss him."

"If Amy hadn't of interrupted, Shadow was going to kiss _me_ ," Sonic replied with a large smile.

"OK... I think that's enough information," Tails' yellow fur had turned pale.

Sonic just laughed, ruffling Tails' head, "And now you understand why I don't say too much. Remember that time when you asked how babies were born?"

Tails put his hands over his ears, "Not again, please!"

* * *


	5. I Want You

"Morning Sonic, how are you?" Tails asked the azure hedgehog as he walked into the kitchen with a short yawn.

"I'm good, you?" Sonic asked in reply, resting his arms behind his head and smiling at the fox.

"I'm fine," Tails leaned against the kitchen counter, looking at the hedgehog, "So, how's your desire for Shadow coming along?"

Sonic chuckled, "Oh that... it's nothing major."

Tails rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. He went to the kettle to boil some water and put slices of bread into the toaster.

_Yeah, he's right..._

* * *

"Fancy seeing you here," Sonic commentated as he found the ebony hedgehog leaning against a tree. Shadow turned around to face him, he simply gave the azure hedgehog a curt nod, before turning back around.

"Haven't seen Amy around, have ya?" Sonic asked playfully, walking closer to Shadow.

"No."

"So, how are you doing?" Sonic asked, putting a hand on the tree.

"Fine."

Sonic rolled his eyes, _of course..._ "Didn't think anything of the other day, did you?"

Shadow didn't reply, seemingly ignoring the blue hedgehog, continuing to stare off into the distance.

Sonic deeply chuckled, "Yeah, neither did I. Although, I wish Amy hadn't have interrupted, things were quite interesting."

Shadow side-glanced, looking at Sonic and shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not."

"Of course, I wouldn't know. You were the one who was leading it somewhere I suppose," Sonic shook his head, walking in front of the ebony hedgehog, putting his arms on Shadow's shoulder, pinning him against the tree.

"And where are _you_ going to lead this?" Shadow bluntly asked, watching Sonic dully.

"I dunno, would you like me to lead it anywhere in particular?" Sonic asked with a smirk, "I mean... we don't even have to go anywhere... we could do it right here, I guess."

Sonic looked left and right quickly, to see if anyone was nearby. The coast was clear, literally. Sonic closed the gap between him and the ebony hedgehog and continued to stare into his red ruby eyes.

Sonic playfully frowned, "Aw, you don't look like you're having fun."

"Maybe if you _did_ something..."

"Alright. And I thought I was impatient," Sonic rolled his eyes as he kissed Shadow's lips, closing his eyes as he did so.

 _Same old... same old... I want to explore!_ Sonic moved his mouth away from Shadow's lips, surprising the ebony hedgehog slightly and down to Shadow neck.

A moan of absolute pleasure escaped of the ebony hedgehog as Sonic moved further down the ebony hedgehog's body.

"That's certainly a sight to see..."

Sonic groaned, irritated that he had been interrupted when he was coming up to such a great part.

The blue hedgehog stopped what he was doing and stood up, turning around to see who had interrupted them.

It was Knuckles, who stood there and although he tried to hide it, there was a slight look of shock on his face.

"Sure is, isn't it?" Sonic replied in a cocky tone.

"I'm going to try and pretend I didn't see that," Knuckles said, ignoring what the blue hedgehog had said. He decided to turn around and walk away from the somewhat disturbing sight.

Shadow slid down the tree and sat at the very bottom of it, he looked at the grass and sighed.

"What is it Shads?" Sonic asked, sitting beside the ebony hedgehog.

"Nothing."

Sonic laughed, "That's a lie. But... I won't press it any further if you don't want to talk about it."

"Do you only do it because you desire me?" Shadow asked, turning his head to look at Sonic.

 _Hm... Good question_ , "Um..." Sonic hummed in an unsure tone, he looked away from the ebony hedgehog.

"As I thought..." Shadow darkly replied, standing up and crossing his arms over his chest.

"But... if you want me to care for you... I can," Sonic said quickly, looking up at Shadow with pleading eyes, begging him not to leave.

"We'll see," He simply muttered before teleporting out of Sonic's vision.

 _Why did I see this coming?_ Sonic stood up and slowly went back to the house, looking at the concrete footpath as he went.

* * *

"What's up Sonic?" Tails asked from the living room, noticing his best friend's return.

"Nothing..." Sonic sighed sadly as he walked into his bedroom, closing the door.

"Doesn't sound like it!" Tails called out from behind the door, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"I closed the door, does that tell you my answer?!" Sonic called back. Tails opened the door and smiled.

"Nope."

"Ugh..." Sonic moaned falling onto the bed, putting his head into a pillow.

"C'mon," Tails said, sitting on the edge of the bed, next to Sonic, "What happened?"

"Do you know anyway getting rid of this desire... it's annoying..." Sonic asked, turning his head to look at the kitsune.

Tails shook his head, "No, sorry Sonic, you've gotta deal with it yourself."

"How?" Sonic asked with frustration.

Tails laughed, "I thought you'd find out yourself. But the best way to get rid of this 'desire' thing is to actually feel the 'true' feelings... do you think you'd be able to do that?"

Sonic sighed, "I dunno. But I suppose I could try... just... talking with Shadow..."

Tails smiled, "Alright, sounds like an alright plan."

* * *

"Hi Shadow..." Sonic said in a somewhat shy manner.

"Faker, what do you want?" The ebony hedgehog replied in what seemed an annoyed tone.

"I wanna talk... which is something we don't really do much," Sonic replied, putting on a forced smile.

"About what?" Shadow asked, turning to face the azure hedgehog.

"I dunno, anything I suppose," Sonic shrugged and pointed at the bench on the edge of the footpath, "Wanna sit down?"

Shadow sat down on the far end of the bench, away from the blue hedgehog.

"So, what do you do besides standing around all day?" Sonic asked Shadow with a smile.

"That _is_ what I do," Shadow stated, "What do you do besides running?"

"Uh... I hang out with Tails sometimes, like go out to eat lunch and that," Sonic replied happily and shrugged, "But when I'm not running, I'm usually lying down and sleeping."

There was an awkward silence that filled the air and Sonic decided to start up another, hopefully, longer conversation.

"Do you have a favourite colour?" Sonic asked curiously.

"No."

"But if you did, what would it be?"

"Probably red as black technically isn't a colour," Shadow replied, "There's really no use in asking what colour you like."

"I like yellow as well," Sonic added in, rolling his eyes, _everyone always thinks the_ _ **only**_ _colour I like is blue..._

"Who would guess?" Shadow rhetorically asked.

"Yeah..." Sonic sighed, "People always think the only colour that's my favourite is blue, but I have others as well."

"Day or night?"

Sonic looked at the ebony hedgehog with surprise. _What does he mean by that?!_

"Which do you prefer?" Shadow added as if noticing Sonic's confusion.

"I prefer day, but night isn't _too_ bad..." Sonic simply replied, _now anyways..._

"I prefer night."

 _Of course you do. You're like the complete opposite of me_ , Sonic nodded, "Because it's quiet and hardly anyone else is out?"

"Because the night sky is what I'm close to... and those things as well," Shadow explained and looked at the azure hedgehog, "So this is all you came here to do, was just talk?"

Sonic nodded with a smile, "I thought it was better that way... getting to know each other you know... getting to know how to care for you, you know?"

"What makes you think _you_ can?" Shadow asked in reply, looking at Sonic intensely.

"I believe I can because even though we're opposite, we're very much alike," Sonic replied with a chuckle, standing up, "Wanna see me here tomorrow? Go out and do something?"

Shadow gave a small nod, continuing to sit on the bench and watched as Sonic ran away.


	6. Fun Things to Do

Tails knew the blue hedgehog was excited. You'd have to be completely oblivious to everything if you didn't know that simple fact. He watched his best friend pace around the living room and when he was fed up with walking, he ran laps around the house... rather slow laps for being the fastest thing alive.

Tails wasn't too sure why Sonic was so excited. The two-tailed fox took the simple guess that it might have had something to do with Sonic taking some time to go out with Shadow. Of course, go out as in getting to know each other, not meaning a close relationship.

At least, that's what Tails hoped somewhat. His shoulders slumped and he dropped the Miles Electric onto the kitchen counter. It wasn't that he had anything against Sonic wanting to get along with the Ultimate Lifeform, he was perfectly fine with that. He just didn't want it to get any further than that. He just hoped the effects of the arrow would wear off soon, so that his best friend would retain his normal demeanor.

He realized the blue blur that had been surrounding the house had disappeared and Sonic hadn't returned into the house, meaning that he had went to the rendezvous point to meet with Shadow.

Tails sighed. Like he had said, there wasn't anything he could do, so there was no use in beating himself up over the issue. He was just going to have to go along with it. For now.

* * *

Sonic stood next to the bench rather than sit on it. Sitting on it would just make him ever more nervous than he already was. He wasn't just nervous, he was excited and happy and a whole bunch of other feelings he had no clue existed.

He had no clue of what was going to happen with Shadow and that just made him curious. He wondered if it showed. Guessing by some strange stares from people walking by him, it was. But, he didn't care.

"Why are you standing next to the bench Faker?" Shadow asked from Sonic's right, making the blue hedgehog's head snap in said direction.

"I prefer standing rather than sitting," Sonic replied as he stretchered his legs as if to take the point further, "There's nothing more that I hate than getting cramps... oh, and water's something else I hate but... let's not worry about that for now."

"Unless we're going to do something involving water," Shadow replied, crossing his arms over his chest as he stopped near the blue hedgehog, "Did you have anything planned for this 'outing'?"

Sonic shook his head, a large smile on his muzzle, "Nope. I just tend to go along with the day."

"Hm," Shadow grunted, turning away from Sonic and looking at the mall not too far ahead, since it was the largest building close to the park.

"Never thought you were the type to go shopping," Sonic chuckled beside him, a hand leaning against his hip as he looked at the building.

"What makes you think I was looking at the mall? It may be the largest building in view, but that doesn't exactly mean I was looking at it."

"Then what are you looking at?" Sonic asked, looking at the ebony hedgehog with confusion.

Shadow turned to face Sonic, the usual frown on his muzzle, "Since you didn't plan anything and it appears you don't have anything in mind, I was looking at the cafe."

Sonic became surprised, but did his best not to show it. Instead, he smirked, "I, also, didn't think you were the type to hang out at a cafe. But, it sounds nice to me."

"And no, I'm not racing you."

"I wasn't going to suggest that," Sonic laughed as they walked towards the cafe, "I'm perfectly fine with walking."

"Your leg was twitching when you were standing next to the bench," Shadow stated, ignoring the azure hedgehog's stare, "I thought you wanted to run."

"N-No... nothing like that," Sonic stuttered, a shy smile on his muzzle as he looked away from the ebony hedgehog, hiding the small embarrassed blush.

* * *

Sonic sucked through the straw, letting the lovely chocolate cold milk wash his mouth. As he swallowed, he put the cup down and rested his head in the palms of hands, watching the ebony hedgehog.

He watched as Shadow looked at the menu hang up behind the counter. He took a small sip out of the hot steaming mug and set it gently back down. He turned his attention to the blue hedgehog.

The blue hedgehog didn't say anything, instead he put on a questioning face.

"I can understand why they wouldn't let you have coffee," Shadow stated simply.

Sonic chuckled, but didn't reply. He had had coffee once, right before Eggman had attempted to attack him. He couldn't really remember what had happened, but Tails had told him that he had scared Eggman away. Tails made sure the blue hero didn't ever drink coffee and Sonic was fine with that. He didn't really like the taste anyway.

"I find the beverage too... bitter to my taste," Shadow told the blue hedgehog.

Sonic cocked his head to the side, giving the ebony hedgehog a surprised look, "So, what are you drinking?"

Shadow groaned, "Hot chocolate."

Sonic looked at his cup and sighed. "I like hot chocolate," He said in a somewhat sulky manner.

"Wasn't that chocolate milkshake enough?"

Sonic smiled, "Yeah, I think I'll have a hot chocolate tonight, that'll be nice before bed."

Shadow gave a small nod as he finished the hot chocolate.

Sonic started laughing, pointing at Shadow's face, "Nice one Shads!"

The ebony hedgehog gave the blue hedgehog a dark glare, "What?!"

Sonic pretended to have a mustache, "Milk mustache!"

Shadow wiped the milk off of his face and shook his head.

"You are so childish," The ebony hedgehog looked at Sonic.

Sonic smiled, resting his head once again and fiddling around with the straw in the cup, "Yeah. I can be."

Shadow just shook his head and looked down at the table, sighing, "What now?"

"I dunno," Sonic shrugged, standing up, "How about a game of tennis or something?"

Shadow went along with it and nodded.

Sonic smiled as he held a hand out to the ebony hedgehog, "Then let's go."

Shadow looked into the blue hedgehog's green eyes and then back at his gloved hand. _I shouldn't take it, I don't need to..._ But there was an odd feeling of _wanting_ to. He realized in that time of pondering, he had reached out and let Sonic take his hand. He stood up and let go of Sonic's hand.

_Just a simple slip up, I won't let it happen again._

* * *

The games had went fairly even and this set... this game in particular was going to settle the battle once and for all. Sonic threw the tennis ball into the air and smashed the tennis racket against it, launching the ball to his opponent's side.

Shadow swung the tennis racket over his shoulder and he hit the ball back to the blue hedgehog.

Sonic jumped onto the ground as the ball was about to come to its second bounce. He managed to it it before the ball fell.

Being caught unaware, believing the blue hedgehog was going to get out, Shadow watched the ball land on his side of the court and fly past his face, out of the area.

 _Wait... what?_ Shadow looked over his shoulder at the tennis ball that made small bounces towards the fence surrounding the tennis court. He shrugged, walking off the course and seemingly acting like it was nothing.

 _I swear he was out. That ball landed before he hit it._ But the referee either hadn't picked it up or Sonic really did hit it before it landed. Shadow rested the racket with the others and walked out of the court area.

Sonic put everything away and watched Shadow sit on the bench, watching him.

When Sonic left the court, he walked to Shadow and laughed, "Are you sulking because you didn't win?"

"You shouldn't have won," Shadow stated, giving Sonic a glare as he looked at the blue hedgehog, "There was no way."

"Who's the real Faker now?" Sonic asked jokingly, putting his hands on his hips and looking at the ebony hedgehog with a large grin.

Shadow mumbled quietly, Sonic not understanding anything he had said. Sonic knelt next to the ebony hedgehog and gently put a thumb under Shadow chin, forcing the Ultimate Lifeform to look at him.

Sonic smirked, "Didn't hear that. You're going to have to speak up."

"It's none of your business," Shadow grunted, throwing Sonic's hand aside.

Sonic shook his hand and stood up, turning away from Shadow, "Fine. Well, had a great time with you today, I guess I'll see you around."

"That was it? That's all you wanted to do?"

Sonic looked over his shoulder, his eyes wide, "Well... unless you suggest something else... I thought you wanted to..."

Shadow stood up and watched as Sonic turned back around.

"Be left alone?" Shadow finished Sonic's sentence, "It's not the end of the day, Faker."

"Well, I'm all up for suggestions," Sonic replied with a shrug, his smile returning to his face.

Shadow thought for a moment, silence falling between the two hedgehogs, before he decided to say, "It's odd that you're willing to leave, unless that's your way of dealing with you 'uncontrollable desire'."

Sonic chuckled, "I kind of forgot about that."

"Forgot?"

"It was kind of in the back of my mind."

"Was?"

Sonic sped to Shadow's side and put an arm around the ebony hedgehog's waist, pulling him close. He smiled at Shadow as Shadow looked at him.

"You did remind that it existed after all," Sonic purred into Shadow's ear.

Sonic heard a whispered curse from Shadow and flicked the ebony hedgehog's nose, "Hush, don't say bad words."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Shadow asked, holding onto Sonic's hand that was around his waist and throwing it off.

Sonic shrugged, "I was simply telling you not to say bad words."

 _Got myself into that,_ Shadow thought as he crossed his arms, "If you're going to be like that, you may as well keep walking away. I'm not going to suggest anything."

"Oh, but I have a suggestion."

Shadow continued to look away from Sonic, hiding his sudden slight interest. _What could be his suggestion... and why should I care?_

"Or would you much rather prefer seeing it?" Sonic asked as he close the space between him and the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow didn't say anything. _No... no... at least, not here._ The ebony hedgehog looked at him and shook his head.

Sonic stopped, looking at him disappointed, "Hm, didn't look like it."

"I'm not interested Faker, so leave that for some other time," Shadow bluntly replied.

"Fine then," Sonic shrugged, turning around, "I'll see you around. Maybe next time we can continue from where we were interrupted." He held a hand up and waved before he ran off, leaving a dirt trail behind him.

 _If I hadn't have mentioned the 'uncontrollable desire' thing, this afternoon probably would have been better,_ Shadow thought as he sat down, _lesson learnt._


	7. Just Chatting

He saw the blue hedgehog lying in a beach chair by the seaside, not doing anything. He appeared to be sleeping, but he couldn't be entirely sure and he wasn't going to find out anytime soon.

 _He does appear to be quite tired lately,_ Shadow though, leaning against a tree in the shade, keeping out of sight. He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head, _Amy really caused a hassle... what did she expect?_

He watched as a couple of kids made their way to the sleeping blue hedgehog, holding buckets of water. They appeared to be very happy, although one of them shook their head as if not approving of what they were going to do.

A kid with a red T-shirt went to tip the bucket onto the blue hedgehog.

Without thinking for a second of what to do, Shadow skated out of the shade and knocked the bucket out of the kid's hand, frowning at the child.

"He saves your worthless lives countless times and this is how you repay him?" The ebony hedgehog questioned the young kid, who seemed scared by his sudden presence.

Shadow turned to the rest of the kids and they ran off, clearly scared. He looked at the bucket that he'd knocked out of the kid's hand and shook his head. _Annoying brats..._

"Shads," Sonic muttered tiredly, opening an eye to look at him, "What happened?"

"A group of kids were going to spill water over you while you slept. I took care of them," Shadow simply replied.

Sonic yawned, stretching his arms and sitting up, "Not again..."

Shadow gave the azure hedgehog a questioning look.

Sonic waved a hand and smiled, "They did that the last time I went to sleep. Thought they could run away fast enough..."

"And did they?"

The blue hero gave Shadow a disbelieving look, "Of course not."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. Why would I do anything? Except... kind of... trip them over... but that wasn't anything," Sonic added quickly, glancing left and right.

Shadow rolled his eyes. _He didn't tell them off? No wonder they came back,_ "Unless you deal with it, it'll just happen again."

"Why would you care?" Sonic asked carefully, looking at Shadow suspiciously.

Shadow didn't reply.

"Also brings the question... how come you're here? Why didn't you just let those kids go ahead and splash me with water? I thought you'd join them," Sonic chuckled as he rubbed his eyes.

"Why were you sleeping here in the first place? I'd expect you to be running and such."

Sonic averted his gaze away from the ebony hedgehog, replying dully, "I haven't had a good nights rest in a while. I guess I kind of dozed off."

"Hm..."

"But you didn't answer _my_ questions!" Sonic back fired, snapping back to look at the ebony hedgehog.

"I do other things than just stand there Faker and 'sorry' for trying to be 'nice'. Next time, I will splash you with water," Shadow darkly said. _Now I'm gonna to leave and hope he doesn't decided to follow me._

Without saying anything else to the blue hedgehog, Shadow vanished.

Sonic sighed and lied back down onto the chair, looking over the ocean.

He hadn't been sleeping well and now it was starting to show. Tails had tried to help him, but it just seemed like there was nothing that could control his subconscious and so, his dreams became more and more... sexual.

It annoyed him. Not because they were getting extremely sexual, but because he didn't mind them. He, somewhat, liked them. Every night, the dream would be the same, but it would be more intense than the previous.

He always woke up early in the morning, not wanting to get back to sleep.

Sometimes he thought it would be better getting rid of the uncontrollable desire and just giving in and going on a date with Amy. But just thinking about Amy made him frustrated. He didn't _want_ to think about Amy, she was the last thing he'd ever want to think about.

It was probably going to be the same tonight and there was nothing stopping it.

Or at least, that's what it seemed like until he got an idea.

* * *

The ebony hedgehog took a seat near the back of the pub, unsure of what the blue hedgehog had planned. He looked around and shook his head. _I wouldn't think Sonic would drink, being only 15._

"There you are," Sonic smiled as he walked through the door and headed towards Shadow.

"What kind of meeting place is this?" Shadow asked the cobalt blue hedgehog, eying him suspiciously.

Sonic took a seat across from the ebony hedgehog and shrugged, "Somewhere different I suppose."

"A pub?" Shadow questioned, crossing his arms over his chest, "Might there be any particular reason for coming here? Do you even _drink_?"

"No, do you?" Sonic laughed in response.

Shadow quickly hid the surprise from his face. He frowned, "Do you think I do?"

"You seem the type."

He became angered, "Really? Has anyone ever told you how _annoying_ you are?"

Sonic shrugged, completely calm, "Yeah, plenty of times. That doesn't change a thing. So, let's get back to the question, do _you_ drink?"

"Not a... lot," The ebony hedgehog hesitate, avoiding Sonic's surprised look.

Sonic put on a smile, "Not a lot? I expected more from you."

Shadow shot a glare at the blue hedgehog who shrugged.

"So what, are you going to take up drinking?" Shadow asked the blue hero with a small smirk.

Sonic shook his head, "No, I wouldn't dream of it... actually... I dream of other things I probably wouldn't want to do." Sonic looked away, shaking his head slightly.

Deciding not to say anything, Shadow decided to go to the bar and order some drinks. When he got back to the table, he handed Sonic a glass of water and sat down.

"Thanks," Sonic nodded, taking a sip from the glass and watched the ebony hedgehog drink from his glass of a dark liquid he had no clue about. He pointed at it, "So, care to tell me what that is?"

"Barley wine," Shadow replied, putting the glass, gently, back onto the table.

"Interesting," Sonic muttered quietly. He sat back in his chair and watched the ebony hedgehog.

He remembered those dreams he had each night of the ebony hedgehog. The same thing, sometimes in a different setting. And one _was_ in a pub like this. As he stared at the hedgehog, he had the feeling of wanting to sit closer to the ebony hedgehog, but thought better of it. He wasn't going to get out of hand this time around.

"So, Tails been helping you try and sleep?" Shadow said, trying to start conversation.

Sonic nodded, putting the glass of water back on the table without drinking from it, "Yeah, but nothing's worked so far."

"Talked with Amy about it?"

"What would be the use?" Sonic asked in reply, looking at the ebony hedgehog slightly annoyed, "I know what she wants and I want nothing to do with it. I don't want to picture the things that could happen with _her_."

"Have you pictured things happening with me?"

"What do you mean?!" Sonic asked rather quickly, a slightly surprised look on his face.

"As in what people would think of their hero if..." Shadow paused for a moment. Technically, a few people had seen what Sonic had done one other day, but nothing had been said about it so far, so he continued on, "they found us hanging out in a way that didn't involve fighting or racing."

"Oh," Sonic thought for a few moments and simply said, "No."

"Not that it would happen anyway," Shadow replied in a confident tone, sipping more of the wine.

"Right."

* * *

They had been in the pub for two hours, only filling the time with small chatting. Sonic sighed, rubbing his hand against the back of his head, "Oh man, I'm not going to get any sleep tonight as usual."

"You don't have anything else to think about?" Shadow asked calmly.

"I've tried that," Sonic said, shaking his head, "Nothing seems to work."

"But, you can sleep at day time perfectly well," The ebony hedgehog pointed out.

"Eh," The blue hedgehog shrugged, "The light annoys me, but I guess the company is nice."

"Perhaps all you need is someone's company? Tried sleeping with Tails?"

"When would I get the time? He's always in the workshop now," Sonic replied dully, looking down at the table, tapping the side of the empty glass.

"Hm," Shadow hummed, an expression of thought over took his face as he put a hand under his chin, wondering what to do.

"Don't worry about it Shads, I'll just occupy myself with something in the mean time. I just wanna leave this place," Sonic replied quickly, standing up and putting the chair under the table, "Are you staying?"

"Nah, I'm not one for pubs," Shadow bluntly replied, standing up also and deciding to leave with the blue hedgehog.

"Where are you heading to Shadow?" Sonic asked curiously.

Shadow shrugged, not giving an answer.

"Wanna come over? I could make us some tea," Sonic suggested as they stopped walking, turning to look at each other.

 _I don't have anything else that I need to do and what's the worst that could happen, right?_ Shadow shrugged and gestured for Sonic to lead the way.


	8. What Could Go Wrong?

Shadow sat on the couch and watched the azure hedgehog wearily, unsure of what the hedgehog was planning. He had thought nothing could go wrong, but something nagged the back of his mind telling him otherwise. He looked down at the mug that held a warm, white beverage. _He could do anything really. He could have probably put something in this tea and I would know a thing about it_. But the ebony hedgehog shook his head, believing that he was over thinking the situation. As long as he didn't mention anything about the 'uncontrollable desire' thing, he would, hopefully, be in safe waters.

Sonic chuckled bringing Shadow back to the current moment, "You are supposed to drink it, remember?"

Shadow growled slightly as he sipped a tiny bit of the warm liquid. A sweet, sugary taste staying in his mouth as he swallowed the liquid. _Always poking fun at me all the time..._ "What about you, then? You're suppose to drink it as well."

"I've already drank mine. I did it as you were staring into space," Sonic replied with a simply shrug, pushing off of the sofa and walking into a different room.

The ebony hedgehog had never really been to Sonic's house, although he never had a reason to. He couldn't but feel uncomfortable and awkward in the unfamiliar surroundings. He took another look around the small living room. Polished wooden floorboards under his feet and walls coloured like the day sky surrounded him. He didn't really think much of it when they had arrived. He wasn't usually one to care about how one would decorate their habitat.

The cobalt blue hedgehog appeared once again, this time carrying a long, cerulean blue blanket. He sat back down on the sofa and spread the blanket over himself, with Shadow now only seeing Sonic's head.

"Going to sleep on the couch tonight?" Shadow asked Sonic dully, taking another small sip of the beverage that was no becoming cold.

Sonic nodded and then shrugged, "Might as well. I'll probably get as much sleep on the couch as I get in bed."

"Fair enough."

"Didn't expect you to come over my house though," Sonic laughed, pulling the blanket over his muzzle, with his green eyes standing out from the blue blanket.

"There are a lot of things I've done that you'd least expect," Shadow exclaimed, placing the mug onto the coffee table lying in front of him, "of which I will not tell you any examples."

"So, how do you like my house? I don't think there's enough blue," the azure hedgehog asked Shadow.

The only colour Shadow could see in the house was blue, apart from the light brown of the wooden floor. Shadow shook his head and crossed his arms, not giving an answer to the question.

"I take it you think there's too much blue. Oh well," Sonic shrugged and laid on his back to look at the ceiling, "I also take it that you're going to leave now."

Shadow gave a small nod.

"Well, see ya later Shads!" Sonic exclaimed, taking a hand out from under the blanket and waving farewell to the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow moved to the door and reached out for the door handle, but hesitated. _I don't really need to do this... right._ He opened the door and shook his head, trying to clear up the fog in his mind that had just seemed to appear out of nowhere.

He stood outside in the dark night. The trees swayed gently from side to side, giving out of a soft fresh breeze. Shadow took a deep breath and attempted to think a place to go to.

"Chaos Control," He muttered silently as to not disturb the wildlife of the night.

"Fancy seeing you here... again," Sonic's voice laughed through the ebony hedgehog's ears.

"Damn you!" Shadow called out as he blinked at the blue hedgehog.

Sonic laughed once again, sitting up and letting the blanket fall from his shoulders, "I knew you'd leave early." Was all he said to the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow sat back on the couch he had been sitting on not just fifteen minutes ago. _I should have just followed my instincts. I shouldn't have had that tea._

"Don't worry Shads, it's nothing major," Sonic said, giving the ebony hedgehog a reassuring smile.

"Nothing major?" Shadow repeated in a slightly angered tone, "I didn't want to end up here, but thanks to your damn tea, I couldn't think straight."

"Exactly, nothing major. It's not like it knocked you out or anything."

"Why didn't you just say something?"

"Hm... I was going to do that, but then my desire kicked in and I definitely wanted you to stay," Sonic explained, throwing the blue blanket to Shadow as if to create a distraction.

 _Wait! That is a distraction!_ Shadow realised just a moment too late and felt the soft fabric land over him. He struggled to take it off, wanting to quickly get out of the situation. But then there was something else that laid upon him.

The part of the blanket covering his head slid down to reveal green eyes staring at him with a playful glimmer in them.

"You alright there Shads?" Sonic laughed joyfully, pulling the blanket down a little further.

"Get off me!"

"Yeah right Shads," Sonic rolled his eyes, making no attempt to get of the ebony hedgehog.

 _I really should have expected this_. Shadow gave a small sigh, pushing the azure hedgehog over the side of the couch, causing the blue hedgehog to fall off and onto the floor.

"Fine," Sonic stood up and slouched his shoulders, giving a lonesome sigh, "I was just playing around, but I should know you aren't the 'playful' type." He went back to the sofa and laid down, looking at the ceiling.

The ebony hedgehog wasn't too sure what to do. He still didn't feel entirely right. He turned away from the azure hedgehog and looked at the back of the couch, making no attempt to take the blanket off.

"Sorry Shadow," Sonic apologized softly, "I don't really know what came over me. I suppose I just didn't want to go to sleep alone knowing that I would only just wake up again."

Shadow remained quiet.

"Don't worry about it though. It really is nothing major. The effects will be gone within minutes. I'm not like Amy." Sonic sighed once again.

"Hm," The ebony hedgehog sighed, sitting up and taking the blanket off. He went over to the blue hedgehog and put the blanket on him, "I don't need it."

"I know. I don't either. I don't know whether it's just me, but tonight seems pretty warm," Sonic explained, even as he wrapped himself up in the blanket. He looked up at Shadow and gave a small smile, looking somewhat ashamed.

Shadow went and sat back on the couch, deciding not leave just yet and see what Sonic's sleeping pattern was like.

The blue hedgehog closed his eyes, but didn't seem to be sleeping. He smiled, "You really don't have to stay."

"Unless you want to pass out one of these days, I want to see how you sleep," Shadow explained, sitting back into the couch and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh... okay."

The azure hedgehog said nothing more. In what seemed like a few minutes, Sonic appeared to sleep, breathing in a gentle, slow rhythm.

The door opened silently and Tails walked in with his Miles Electric. He caught sight of Shadow and looked around the corner of the wall to the blue hedgehog that was sleeping on the couch. Coming to an understanding, the kitsune gave a nod to the ebony hedgehog and left the house, closing the door silently behind him.

_Perhaps Amy thought of this from the beginning. Perhaps that's why she did it at such a 'convenient' time. Perhaps I should go and have a few more words with her._


	9. Second Time Lucky?

_**He stared at the white ceiling above him. He knew he was dreaming, he knew it was going to be the same at last time. But what was it going to be like this time?** _

_**The blue hedgehog sat up and let the blanket covering him drop down as he turned his gaze to the ebony hedgehog standing by the window, looking out of it.** _

_**I haven't had a dream like this one before, Sonic thought as he swung his legs over the bed and sat there, looking at Shadow.** _

" _ **You're awake," The black hedgehog muttered deeply, continuing to look out the window, as if paying no attention to the blue hedgehog.**_

" _ **No," Sonic chuckled slightly, "I'm not really. And since you're a**_ _ ** **figment** of my imagination, that makes it even more ironic."**_

" _ **What shall it be this time?" Shadow asked, ignoring what the azure hedgehog had said. He turned around slightly, looking at Sonic from his peripheral vision.**_

" _ **I don't want to do anything! I've had enough of it, seriously!" Sonic sighed, placing a gloved hand over his face, growing annoyed of these dreams he had every night.**_

" _ **I wouldn't be here if you didn't want me here. As you said before, I'm a**_ _ ** **figment** of your imagination," The red streaked hedgehog commented, returning his focus to the window.**_

_**Sonic sighed again, "I don't want you here. I don't want you here at all! This is just something that stupid arrow did, not me! Ugh, I can't believe I'm actually yelling to something that's not real."** _

_**Shadow, once again, ignored what the azure hedgehog was saying, "I don't see why you are stressing so much Sonic. I'm not the one who does anything in these dreams of yours."** _

_**Sonic smashed his hand against the soft mattress, "I know! I know!" He closed his eyes and clenched his hands tightly.** _

_**He heard the ebony hedgehog sigh as he heard Shadow go over to him. Shadow grabbed a hold of Sonic's left hand and opened it up, patting his palm.** _

" _ **You know what you have to do to take these dreams away Sonic, it's right in front of you after all," Shadow whispered into Sonic's ear.**_

_**The blue hedgehog opened his eyes and stared into Shadow's ruby ones, "I do?"** _

_**There was silence as the two stared at each before Sonic yelped with glee.** _

" _ **I do!" He jumped off of the bed and fist-pumped, "And I would love to see Amy's face when I tell her!"**_

_**Shadow chuckled softly, before passing by the azure hedgehog and walking out the door.** _

" _ **Hey! Where are you going?! HEY!"**_

* * *

"I'm not going anywhere you foolish hedgehog!" Shadow yelled into Sonic ear, waking the cobalt blue hedgehog up.

Sonic stared at Shadow with wide eyes. The blue hedgehog had a tight grip over Shadow's wrist, which he quickly let go.

Sonic chuckled nervously, "Heh, I know that Shads... just making sure."

Shadow just looked at Sonic with slight confusion before giving a small nod and turning away from the blue hedgehog.

Sonic quickly sat up, a large smile on his face, "I'm going to go and talk to Amy."

The ebony hedgehog watched as the blue hedgehog jumped off of the couch and sped towards the door, suspiciously, "You've finally given up?"

Sonic rolled his eyes and laughed, "Good one Shads, as if _I_ would give up! I'll be right back, seriously." Without waiting for any protests, if there were any, Sonic left the house, leaving Shadow alone in the living room.

* * *

"Hey Amy!"

Amy jumped, causing the ice-cream she was having to spill onto her dress. She groaned, standing up to face Sonic who was standing behind where she had been sitting, "What? Finally realized you couldn't take it anymore?"

Sonic smiled, placing a hand on the edge of the bench and leaning against it, "Yeah, I did."

Amy, suddenly, ignored the ice-cream all over her and beamed at Sonic, "So you finally agree to have an 'actual' date with me."

The blue hero chuckled, "Ha, yeah right."

Amy frowned, crossing her arms over her chest, "Then what do you want?"

"Just to tell you how I can get rid of this 'curse' without your help," Sonic smirked, putting his hands over his hips, "Not that you'd really help anyway, but just thought you'd like to know."

"Pfft," Amy turned away from him, "I could just shoot you with another dose anyway."

She waited for a reply, but didn't get one. She turned her head around slightly and found no one there. She sighed, _Ugh... lucky I just happened to make an extra vial._

* * *

"You know you didn't have to stay, right?" Sonic called to Shadow from the windows, leaning against the window sill with his elbows.

Shadow turned to look at the blue hedgehog and walked to him, "What was that about?"

"Oh, just went to tell Amy that I'll be fine."

"Oh really? With the way you were sleeping, anyone would think you're anything but alright," The ebony hedgehog replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sonic's smile faded away, looking at Shadow with surprise, "W-What are you talking about?"

"You clenched your hands so tightly together it was worrying and then you starting yelling in your sleep. Is that normal behavior from you?" Shadow dully stated.

"What do you think Shads?"

Shadow shrugged, "I don't know –" Something caught the eye of the ebony hedgehog. Something pink was standing at a far distance from the blue hedgehog holding a bow and arrow, "DUCK!"

Seeing the warning in Shadow's eyes, Sonic quickly ducked under then window sill as a arrow whizzed right above Sonic head and straight into the window.

"Ugh!"

Sonic poked his head above the window sill, "Anyone hurt?" He saw the arrow sticking from the ebony hedgehog's shoulder.

"Oh, we have one causality!" Sonic jumped over the window and quickly turned around to close it, watching the pink hedgehog walking away in a hurry, "I should have known it was her fault." He turned around to face the black hedgehog, "Are you alright?"

"I have an arrow sticking out of my shoulder, what do you think?" Shadow hissed back, grabbing the arrow out of his shoulder and yanking it out with shudder. He threw the arrow onto the ground and placed a hand over his shoulder, "It'll heal."

"Right," Sonic rolled his eyes as he walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. He grabbed some paper towel and poured water over it. He squeezed it and turned around ready to head back to Shadow, but the ebony hedgehog was already at the door frame.

"Here," Sonic attempted to hand to the ebony hedgehog, but Shadow just stared at him, "Uh... you sure you're going to be fine Shads?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry about me," Shadow quickly said, snapping out of his trance. He took the wet paper towel and pressed it against his shoulder, "Thanks."

"Hm... right. Listen, do you know where Tails is?" Sonic asked the ebony hedgehog in an unsure tone, "Did he leave earlier?"

"Yeah, he said he was off to his workshop," Shadow turned away from the blue hedgehog and headed back to the living room.

"Cool. I'll just go check up on him, I'll meet up with you afterwards and see if you're 'fine'," Sonic laughed slightly as he opened the front door, "Although, you're the Ultimate Lifeform, so I have nothing to worry about."

Shadow glared at him as he left.

* * *

"Tails, I believe we might have a bit of a problem," Sonic leaned against the wall as he watched the two-tailed fox examine something.

"As in an even bigger problem than what happened to you?"

"As in the same kind of thing that happened to me happened to Shadow, cross my fingers it doesn't actually happen, you get me?" Sonic commented and watched the shocked look on Tails' face. Sonic shrugged, "Well, it would have hit me if he hadn't have warned me."

"Amy, I take it?" Tails asked in a dull tone.

The blue hedgehog sighed, "Yeah, of course."

"Go keep an eye on him, I'll come back once I find a solution to this," Tails waved his hand to shoo Sonic.

"What are you doing?" Sonic asked, taking a peak over the two-tailed fox's shoulder.

"None of your business... yet," Tails whispered, turning to look at the blue hedgehog, "This should only take me ten minutes, but you never know what might happen in that amount of time."

"Alright! See ya!" Sonic waved, speeding out of the house.

_Oh great... as if things couldn't get any worse._


	10. Important Ungiven Information

"Yo Shads, I'm back!" Sonic announced as he slammed open the door and found the ebony hedgehog casually sitting on the couch holding a hand full of flowers, "Uh, what's with the flowers? I'm gone for less than five minutes and you've already hand-picked my garden," The hero joked, heading towards the ebony hedgehog.

The black hedgehog stood up quickly, he looked at Sonic silently and then at the flowers, "I... uh... don't really know how I got these."

A look of worry washed over Sonic's face, _no... please no..._ "Perhaps the fresh air will clear your mind, have a walk around."

"That's why I went outside in the first place," Shadow reasoned, continuing to stare at the blue hedgehog.

The ebony hedgehog's red eyes looked slightly clouded, as if really, really confused but he kept looking at Sonic as if he would give some sort of answer to his confusion.

"Uh, I suppose I could go an get you a glass of water or you could take a shower or something..." _I'm kind of running out of ideas... what did I do? Oh right..._

Shadow looked down at the flowers in his hands and held them out to Sonic, "Actually, I think I picked these for you, I believe."

Sonic hesitated before accepting them. He gently took them out of Shadow's hands as if they were fragile and put on a smile, "Um... thanks I suppose." He went to the open window and dropped them outside, "But I think they deserve to be outside, heaps better than being in here."

Shadow turned away from Sonic, completely averting eye contact and heading towards the door.

The blue hero looked at the ebony hedgehog and became worried once more, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Shadow dully answered before slamming the door with a loud thud.

"Yeah... right," Sonic muttered to himself.

The door opened once again, this time revealing Tails, who seemed to look rather surprised.

"What?" Sonic plainly asked.

"Did you... do something?" Tails asked in reply, not hiding the shock in his voice and he looked behind him out the open door.

"Not that I can think of, why?" Sonic replied in confusion.

"Oh... so you aren't the one who made him _cry_ I take it."

" _Cry_?! Are you kidding me?" Sonic almost felt like laughing, but then remembered dropping the flowers out the window, "Oh no!" Without giving the two-tailed fox an explanation, he ran out of the house and headed to where he believed Shadow would be.

* * *

He hid behind the trees as if he was trying to be stealthy... wait he was. He watched as Shadow silently threw rocks into the clear water.

"Stupid... pink... hedgehog..." Shadow muttered each word as he threw each rock, "Wish... she... just... left... everything... ALONE!" The last rock he threw made a huge splash, causing him to be covered in water, but he seemed to ignore it, "And that pathetic Faker. No help whatsoever. Throwing those flowers away... if he didn't want them, I could have -"

The ebony hedgehog heard a rustle from in the bushes and quickly turned around to face the bush, at fighting stance.

"Show yourself!"

"Calm down Shads, it's just me," Sonic replied, throwing his hands up into the air and jumping out of the bush, in front of the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow quickly turned around as if ignoring the blue hedgehog's very existence.

"Leave me alone," The black hedgehog muttered silently, picking up another rock and ready to throw it at the water.

"Listen, Tails told me that he saw you crying and I realized that I had done something wrong," Sonic scratched the back of his head nervously, "Look, I didn't know at that time what they meant, but I should have. Shadow, I'm sorry for what I did, alright? And I know how confusing it can be, but you're the ultimate lifeform, aren't you?" Sonic chuckled, "You can get through this."

The only sound that was heard was the birds chirping and the sound of water washing against the bank.

"Alright, well, see you later I suppose," Sonic turned around, kicking some pebbles from the ground as he left.

* * *

"I apologized and that's the best I can do... oh and I grabbed all the flowers back," Sonic looked at the vase filled with flowers, a hand supporting his head as he leaned against the table, "We'll just have to see what happens. Anyhow... want to go out and get something to eat?"

Tails smiled, putting his Miles Electric on the table next to the vase, "Awesome! Can we get milkshakes? I've been craving for a banana milkshake since last week!"

"That sounds concerning bro," Sonic joked, as he opened the door, "The usual, right? Race ya!"

The two raced off in a blur, leaving the door open by accident.

* * *

 _Where's that damn blue hedgehog?_ Shadow approached the residence of the blue hedgehog, finding the door open. _It's open..._ Without waiting for a written invitation, the red streaked hedgehog entered the building and immediately noticed the vase of flowers and the Miles Electric sitting on the table in the living room.

 _He actually bothered to pick those flowers up..._ Shadow picked one of the flowers out of the vase, examining it, "Why did I pick these? What was I thinking? Why can't I get this damn Faker out of my head?"

He looked at the Miles Electric, interested to see that it didn't seem to be protected by any username or password. _They must of left in a hurry... not very surprising._ Shadow observed the electronic device closely, quickly noticing that it appeared to be open on an internet browser and a document.

The ebony hedgehog picked the device up and tapped the internet browser. The page it was on appeared to be research on chemicals in a certain part of the brain. However, it all seemed to be in some sort of scientific babble that Shadow couldn't really make out. He decided to open the document instead.

"Shadow!" Sonic called out, causing the ebony hedgehog to quickly drop the device on the table and look at the blue hedgehog.

Tails arrived behind the azure hero, noticing the ebony hedgehog and his device being moved on the table. He quickly ran inside and took a hold of the device. He gave Shadow a small glare before taking off, out of the house.

"It's not what you think!"


	11. Alternative Solution

"What do you mean 'it's not what you think'? Can you read my mind, Shads?" Sonic asked the ebony hedgehog, curiously as he walked over to the counter on the opposite side of Shadow.

"No, that's not what I meant at all," Shadow replied in an irritated tone. He gave a small sigh and shook his head, "I came here to accept your apology and that's all. But – you weren't here and the door was open," Shadow explained, not exactly sure why he was explaining himself to the blue hedgehog, "I saw that you picked all those flowers up... you didn't have to do that."

Sonic smiled, taking a flower out of the vase and sniffing it, "These are good flowers and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay... which, in this situation, isn't," The azure hero handed the flower to Shadow, continuing to give the red-streaked hedgehog a warm smile.

Shadow took the flower, gently touching Sonic's hand as he did so. He quickly looked after Sonic and then looked down at the flower in his hand.

"Was there anything else you were going to add to you explanation?" The cobalt blue hedgehog asked, moving close to the black hedgehog and placing both hands on his shoulders, trying to get Shadow to look at him.

Shadow hesitated before looking at Sonic, seriously and muttered a simple, "No."

"Oh... OK," Sonic chuckled, taking his hands off of Shadow and turning to look at the door, "Whatever you saw on Tails' Electric must have really annoyed him," Sonic turned his attention back to the black hedgehog, "What did you see?"

Shadow crossed his arms and turned away from Sonic, "Nothing of importance."

"It had something to do with 'this', didn't it?" Sonic asked in a laughing manner.

The red-streaked hedgehog quickly turned to look at Sonic, "So, you know that Tails has come to a conclusion?"

"Of course. I know him so well, you know?" Sonic walked to the kitchen counter and grabbed hold of the kettle, going to the sink to put water into it and then returning it to its base and turned it on to let it boil, "And I already know his conclusion, he told me."

"Would you mind telling me, then?" Shadow bluntly replied, continuing to look at Sonic with a blank expression.

Sonic shrugged, "I thought an Ultimate Lifeform, such as yourself, would already know the answer. Want some tea or coffee?"

Shadow was taken slightly aback by the offer, but shook his head, "No thanks... I've learnt my lesson."

Sonic chuckled, shaking his head as he looked out of the window above the sink, "I wouldn't do something like that ever again. I'm good at the moment."

Shadow grunted and looked back down at the flower in his hand. _I ain't taking any chances, even if I'm more the one at fault here. It really does seem he's more normal than before anyway... how?_

"Then a glass of water?"

"Stop offering me beverages," The ebony hedgehog retorted, annoyed.

"I would say someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning... but that would be stupid," Sonic joked, pouring the boiling water into a mug, "Tell me then, why haven't you left?"

Shadow looked at Sonic and then to the vase of flowers, shaking his head, "Yeah, you're right. Why haven't I left yet?" He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Feel free to visit whenever you want!" Sonic chuckled, giving Shadow a wave of farewell.

"Hmpf, whatever," Shadow muttered under his breath, taking his leave and closing the door behind him.

Sonic put the warm mug down, rested his elbows onto the counter in front of the vase and used a hand to rest his head as he looked at the flowers. _He'll be back... I know it._

* * *

"'Feel free to visit', I took that opportunity," A deep voice whispered into his ear.

Sonic's eyes opened wide, he sat up quickly and turned to his side to look at who it was.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" Sonic yelped, clutching the blanket over him and throwing it off, "I didn't expect you to be returning at..." The blue hedgehog turned to look over his shoulder and looked out the window at the night sky, "such an hour. A bit late, don't you think."

"Early is the correct term, I believe," The ebony hedgehog replied, standing beside Sonic's bed and looking down at him.

"So," Sonic yawned, swinging his legs over the bed and looking up at Shadow, "what do you want?"

"I want _you_ out of my _head_ , could you do that please?"

Sonic laughed, picking the blanket up from under his feet, "You sound crazy, just so you know."

"You _acted_ crazy, just so you know."

"We're not going to get into an argument, are we?" Sonic shook his head and looked at the floor, "And yes, I _acted_ crazy, past tense just so you know."

Shadow sat on the bed, continuing to stare at Sonic but didn't say anything.

"Here," Sonic handed the blanket to Shadow.

"What?" Shadow looked at the blanket in his hands, "What use is this to me?" He asked, looking back at Sonic, who had moved extra close to him.

"I dunno, for memories?" Sonic joked, the blue hedgehog out a hand on Shadow's shoulder, "I can't really help you out to be honest... it's just something you have to deal with yourself."

The red-streaked hedgehog shrugged, "As expected."

"But... there _are_ other things I can help with," Sonic purred into Shadow's ear, "Remember?"

"How could I forget?"

"Exactly," Sonic backed off a bit and snuggled Shadow's shoulder with his head, "But I'm too tired to do that at the moment," He leaned against Shadow and was soon fast asleep.

 _Gee... thanks,_ Shadow rolled his eyes and looked down at the blanket, _Or maybe he did know._ He picked the blanket up and threw it over Sonic, watching as the blue hedgehog wrapped his arms around him, _and maybe there are some things he won't let go._

* * *

"Getting into the spirit, I see."

Shadow opened his eyes and realized he was looking at the ceiling, having laid down onto the bed. He turned his head to the side to see who the speaker was.

"Why did you hide you... seem so annoyed at me?"

Tails crossed his arms, "Why wouldn't I be? You were basically looking at my personal things."

"Personal? If looking up chemicals for the brain is what you spend your time doing, you have got much of a life do you?" Shadow decided not to say anything more. _That was stupid... heaps stupid._

But Tails laughed it off, "Yeah, that's probably true, but I don't do that. So... if you're still annoyed about the arrows effect, I could make an antidote from the information I have on it and see if it works."

Shadow shook his head, "No. I am fine."

"Alright," The two-tailed fox shrugged his shoulders and turned around, "I suppose I should say 'good morning'." And with that, he left the bedroom.

Shadow looked at the drooling hedgehog that was sleeping upon him. _Should I annoy him by pushing him off or letting him continue to sleep? I... I think I'll let him sleep. Apart from the drool, he's actually pretty quiet... and somewhat cute._


	12. A More 'Logical' Plan

Amy shook her head as she threw the book onto the coffee table with a loud thud. All this book had managed to do was cause her trouble and not get her anywhere. She hadn't gotten what she'd wanted, in fact, she was in a worse position now than she had been before the whole thing had happened.

 _If he wasn't there, maybe things would have, actually, gone my way,_ the pink hedgehog thought as she took another sip from her cup of tea, giving the hard-covered book another glance, _there's gotta be someway to reversing all this. Maybe there's some type of amnesic potion or spell... but would giving Sonic amnesia really be a good idea? With everything that's happened... he kind of deserves a break._

The fuchsia coloured hedgehog let out a lengthy sigh as she contemplated her further actions, putting the coffee down on the coffee table, picking up the heavy book and sitting back into the couch. She flipped to the index, searching down the list for anything involving reversal.

 _Nothing... there's_ _ **got**_ _to be something!_ Her eyes stopped at the letter L. _Why didn't I see this before?! This would have helped me out heaps more than what I chose to do! Hm... maybe I should look at alternatives before I jump onto this, however._ She continued down the list, lying down on the couch and humming 'His World' to herself as she searched through the book. _Artificial Love Reversal... hmm... that sounds interesting._

Amy smirked as the scene played out in her head. _I, somehow, give this 'Artificial Love Reversal' to Shadow and... actually... maybe I can make Shadow give the potion to Sonic. Oh man, I should have done this before!_

The pink hedgehog smiled widely as she wrote her recipe on a piece of pink paper and placing it in a secret book. She gave a quick wink to the book before deciding to head to bed.

 _Right. Get all the ingredients from Vanilla tomorrow and then get straight into the plan. Knowing those two, they'd definitely be together, so this plan should be a piece of cake._ Amy giggled to herself as she went underneath the blankets. _Finally... things are looking up for me._

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Amy? With what I've seen from your actions lately, I don't know if I can trust to give you any more of my herbs and spices," The motherly rabbit said to the pink hedgehog after being told of said hedgehog's plan. She gave Amy a disapproving look, "These types of things aren't supposed to be messed with the way you are and that plan may backfire on you."

Amy looked at the ground ashamed, knocking her shoe against her heel as she began to explain her plan B, "Well, if that happens, I intend to just get them to forget everything."

"Amy! You know what both of them have been through! And I doubt Shadow would want to have amnesia again," Vanilla told her, shaking her head, "I suggest waiting until the current effects have worn off before attempting anything else. But even then, I don't think you should do any more. I'm sorry Amy, but it's quite clear that Sonic just isn't into you."

Amy held her composure for the rabbit she fully respected and not wanting to scare her best friend, that was sitting in the next room, with her anger, "I know he does, deep down. It's meant to be! I read the cards!"

"Perhaps you read the cards wrong," Vanilla suggested, turning away from the dining table they were at and heading over to a cupboard near the far wall, right next to a window. She opened the cupboard and took out her tarot cards, "And maybe a more recent reading of these cards might prove to you that things change."

Amy took a deep sigh, giving the rabbit a forced smile and nodded, "Yeah, maybe you're right." _But I know we're meant to be. I just know!_

Vanilla went through and read the cards to herself first, wondering what the young hedgehog in front of her read. Vanilla knew Amy was a sweet girl, but her desire to want Sonic married to her worried the rabbit deeply and her sudden actions with things she didn't fully understand made Vanilla extremely scared. All she wanted to do was make sure Amy wasn't going to get hurt, emotionally more than anything.

"Here, read them for yourself," Vanilla said calmly as she handed the cards to the pink hedgehog.

Vanilla noticed the sudden change from surprise, to shock and back to normal composure on Amy's face as the hedgehog looked at the cards. She knew that Amy realised that things had changed. That she wasn't the hedgehog destined to be with the blue hero.

Amy decided not to say her readings out loud. She knew Vanilla was watching her and waiting for her readings to see how accurate she was. Instead, she muttered words every now and then to let Vanilla know that she knew what she saw, that she knew what she was doing.

"Shade of a shadow... one in the same..." Amy shook her head slightly, "Well... that's definitely changed from what I read," Amy placed the cards face down onto the table, placing her hands on the table and looking directly at Vanilla, "but even with these _slight_ chances, I just know it's fate that we'll be together, even if I have to change the past in order to do so."

"You are a very determined girl, but I don't want to see you hurt, Amy. I see you like a child to me and I know how sad Cream would be to see you in pain," Vanilla explained, giving the pink hedgehog a look of sympathy, "I just want to know that you know what you're doing. And what the consequences of doing things like this be. You might loose some valuable friends by doing this, think about that."

"I have thought about it, for years, and I know that this is the future that is destined for me," Amy explained, looking at Vanilla with intense, determined green eyes, "And this is what I want. I want to be with my beloved forever."

"But how do you know that the person you're destined with is Sonic? You could have misread it wrong. Perhaps you belong with someone else," The rabbit asked in reply.

Amy stared at Vanilla for a minute.

"I just... know. I've had this hunch ever since he saved me all those years ago," The pink hedgehog looked down at the table and then back at the rabbit with a new found courage, "So please Vanilla, help me out here."

Vanilla gave a sigh. She knew that even if she rejected giving Amy the ingredients, that with how determined Amy was, she'd go and find them somewhere else and even the thought of Amy going to the Black Market just to get these ingredients made Vanilla agree to help.

Amy's well-known smile appeared on her face and her eyes lit up with excitement. She got up from her seat and over to Vanilla where she gave the rabbit a hug, "Thanks so much Vanilla, I'll babysit Cream whenever you need me to."

"You already do that," Vanilla laughed in response as she stood up, "Come with me and I'll get you what you need as well as some extra advise to make sure everything you make goes perfectly. Don't think, however, that I agree with what you're doing. And if things do go wrong, I will not hesitate to tell them the real truth, or at least Tails since he'd be more likely to understand at that time."

"Of course."

* * *

 _Now, I know how much they wouldn't trust me with doing this, so I'm going to have to do something that I know Vanilla wouldn't approve of. Use Cream to my advantage._ The pink hedgehog smiled at the on-coming rabbit with her chao flying next to her.

"Hey Cream! Hey Cheese! How are you doing today?" Amy asked happily as she placed a lid over the top of the coffee cup she had in her hands.

"We're doing well, Miss Amy. What about you?" Cream replied with a bow as she turned her head to smile at Cheese before looking back at the pink hedgehog.

"I am fine, Cream," Amy laughed joyfully as she knelt down in front of the innocent child, "Don't mind if you do me a favour, Cream?"

Cream smiled widely, "Of course I'll do a favour for you! What do you want me to do?"

"Well, you see Shadow over there?" Amy said as she pointed to the ebony hedgehog, who was leaning against the fence at the pool as he watched Sonic have swimming lessons from Tails.

"Yes."

"Can you take this to him?" Amy handed the young rabbit the coffee cup and quickly added, "Just don't say it's from me. Got it?"

Cream nodded and hurriedly walked over to the pool. Cheese helped open the gate for her, while she gently walked over the ebony hedgehog, doing her best not to drop the cup.

"Mr Shadow?"

Shadow turned his attention from the pool to Cream, "Yes?"

Confused on what to say without giving Amy away, Cream handed the coffee cup to Shadow, "Here. I was told to give this to you."

"By who?" Shadow asked, doing his best not to frighten the rabbit with his suspicion.

"They didn't want to be named. They... said it was a gift," Cream hesitated with the explanation, not sure what to say. She quickly smiled, "Is Mr Sonic finally learning how to swim?"

Shadow chuckled, "Yes, yes he is. He keeps sinking into the water. Tails is getting very frustrated."

"I can help! I know how to swim!" Cream suddenly said with excitement, Cheese clapping with joy.

"Thanks for the offer, Cream, but I'm sure Tails will do fine," Shadow replied, a small smile on his muzzle, "You could cheer Sonic on though."

Cream shook her head, before bowing, "No, I'm actually having a play date with someone, so I best be going. Bye Mr Shadow!" The young rabbit waved before happily skipping away from the pool, closing the gate behind her as she went.

Shadow suspiciously looked at the cup. He then looked at Sonic, who caught his gaze. He nodded to the cup.

"I have my suspicions that Amy might have something to do with this," Shadow explained as he walked towards the pool.

Sonic shook his head, putting a finger in his ear to get the water out as he tread water, "Didn't catch that. What?"

Shadow rolled his eyes, "I said 'I have my suspicions that Amy might have something to do with this'."

"Oh. Who gave it to you? Because, if it was Cream, then you definitely know Amy's behind it," Sonic laughed, his head bobbing underneath the water. He rose once again and spat out a mouthful of water and started coughing.

"Well, she's bound to be watching to see if I actually drink it," Shadow said as he looked at the cup.

"You aren't going to drink from that thing are you?" Sonic asked as Shadow put the cup to his lips.

Shadow shrugged, rising the cup up and then back down, wiping his mouth, making sure whatever liquid was in there was over his mouth, "Nah, just doing a little trick to get her to 'think' I actually drunk from it."

"Oh, I know what you are d -" Sonic's head fell under the water again.

"Sonic!" Tails called out, going under the water to pick Sonic up and bring him to the surface, "This is the shallow end!"

"Sorry, my head's a bit heavy," Sonic smiled shyly.

"Instead of a life jacket, you need a life helmet," Shadow told the blue hedgehog, dumping the coffee cup into the bin.

Amy watched from a distance as the ebony hedgehog threw the coffee cup into the bin. _Something's not right... I suppose I should just continue my plan anyhow._

The pink hedgehog smiled widely at the young rabbit as she returned. Amy knelt down in front of the rabbit and gave her a hug, "Thanks Cream."

Cream smiled widely as she hugged Amy.

"Now, let's go an make those sandcastles."

* * *

Sonic huddled in the towel, shivering slightly as they walked over to a small grocery store. He held the towel closely to him, drying himself off before entering the store.

Shadow handed his shoes and socks back and Sonic laughed.

"Thanks Shads," The blue hedgehog put his socks and shoes on, giving the ebony hedgehog the thumbs up.

"Don't thank me. Thank Tails, he at least taught you the basics of swimming," Shadow dully replied.

"Right, yeah." Sonic smiled as he headed over the refrigerated section, where Tails was.

 _Ah yes... now I have them,_ Amy mischievously smiled as she decided to set her plan into action for real, _this time nothing will go wrong._

Walking past the isle that Shadow was in, Amy dropped the bottle of potion she had brewed up onto the floor, quickly leaving the sight as to not get seen.

Shadow looked at the bottle, looking down and then picking it up. Simply shrugging, he headed over to where Sonic and Tails were and put it into the fridge.

"Where'd you find that, Shadow?" Tails asked the black hedgehog with confusion.

"It just dropped and rolled along the floor near the isle that I was in... the chips and chocolate isle," Shadow stated, deciding to take the bottle back out and look at it more closely, "You are right, however, what was this doing near that isle?"

"Maybe it was a trainee employee," Sonic joked as an employee entered their isle.

"I may be new, but I'm not clumsy," The employee said, glaring at the blue hero before pushing past him.

"Jeez... no need to be rude about it," Sonic muttered under his breath, rubbing his shoulder.

"It doesn't have a Universal Product Code on it," Tails said as he took the bottle out of Shadow's hands and examined it, "So, it appears to not actually be from this store. I'll take this back to my workshop and analyse it."

"You know the whole reason we took you with us was so you'd get away from that place," Sonic laughed, "But it seems you're attached to it. Sure, but first, I'm gonna take some ice-cream home."

Amy quickly ran out of sight as she saw the trio approach her isle. _Ha! They won't find anything in that plain bottle of water. And if I really do know my Sonic well, I know exactly which flavour he'll choose!_

"How about a change Sonic, why don't we take chocolate home instead of vanilla?" Tails suggested.

Amy tightened her grip on the shelf with worry.

"No..." Sonic sighed shaking his head, "We can have strawberry though, I'm not really into chocolate... no..."

_No... no..._

"Why not both? You can have what you usually have and Tails can get strawberry," Shadow suggested, slightly annoyed with the pointless argument.

"That's a good idea," Sonic smiled, taking out both tubs of ice-cream, "I'll probably eat all the vanilla ice-cream myself though."

Amy heaved a sigh of relief, placing a hand over her chest as she watched the trio leave the store. _Thank you, Shadow._

* * *


	13. Undercover Plan

Shadow couldn't shake the feeling that Amy had been constantly with them all day, watching from within shadows, an invisible entity. He shook his head, he was just getting paranoid from all the events that had happened, as if Amy would want to do anything to worsen the situation. A feeling nagged him though. _Maybe it was a bad idea letting him get that ice-cream._

"What's up Shads? You look like you're in a deep thought," Sonic noted as he placed an arm around Shadow, his ice-cream in one hand and a steel spoon in the other. He shoved the spoon into the ice-cream and put it into his mouth.

"Thoughts about your concern that aren't your concern," Shadow muttered, staring at the ice-cream.

"You're right Shads, I should have just stuck with strawberry. There's something off with this chocolate," Sonic replied, with a look of disgust, leaving the spoon in the ice-cream. He placed it down on the table and went to the fridge to get a soft drink out.

Shadow looked at the ice-cream container. _Maybe my hunch was correct after all._ He picked the container up and threw it into the bin.

"What a waste of perfectly good ice-cream," Tails commented behind the black hedgehog with a laugh.

"Sonic didn't like it and it's not like I need to eat, so it would have been a waste either way," the ebony hedgehog replied with a shrug.

Sonic started coughing loudly, causing the pair to look at him. Managing to compose himself, he smiled while pointing to the drink, "Swallowed it too quickly."

"You need to slow down sometimes, Sonic," Tails joked, throwing his empty container of ice-cream out.

"Gotta do everything at maximum speed, Tails. Won't stand for anything less."

"Slow the hell down," Shadow warned, shaking his head with disappointment.

He watched as Sonic froze on the spot, his gaze held to the ground as if in some sort of trance. The azure hedgehog forgot all about his drink, dropping it onto the floor as a look of realisation washed across his face.

"Why hadn't I seen this before?!" Sonic asked himself, holding his hands out of front of him and snapping his fingers, "I am so blind!"

"What are you on about?" The ebony hedgehog bluntly asked moving towards the blue hero, who held his arms out in front of him and pushed Shadow away.

He glared, slightly, at Shadow, "Leave me alone! I've got somewhere to be!" And without waiting for either of them to retort, he took off out of the house, dropping the drink onto the floor.

"What's going on?" Tails asked in completely confusion, picking the can up and chucking it into the bin, proceeding to grab a mop and clean up the floor. Every few seconds he'd side-glance to Shadow.

"He's got bi-polar now?" Shadow muttered to himself, "I think Amy spiked something."

"What could it possibly be? We've checked everything," The two-tailed fox groaned, putting the mop aside and leaning against the bench, looking at the table.

"My suspicion is that she had followed us in the supermarket, which is explains why a bottle rolled into my isle," The red-streaked hedgehog explained, "And considering that Sonic told me that something seemed off with the ice-cream, I can only guessed she spiked it with something."

Tails groaned once again, "She just doesn't give up, does she? This time I'm going after him. I saw the glare he gave you before he left, so something's definitely up."

Shadow simply nodded.

* * *

The two-tailed kit found the blue hedgehog just standing by a tree next to the beach, looking out over the ocean. He seemed perfectly fine.

"Hey Sonic."

Sonic turned around to face him.

"Oh..."

"What? Is there something on my face?" The blue hedgehog puckered his lips, that were covered in lipstick. He laughed quickly looking at the shocked looked on the fox's face, which was accompanied by a more feminine laugh near him. He fluttered his long eyelash extensions as Tails walked to him.

"What's with the make-up?" Tails asked, rubbing a bit of blush from the azure hedgehog's muzzle.

"Well, I had nothing to do with this. In fact, I'm going to go and take it off," Sonic smiled, patting Tails' head and he moved away from his spot and headed towards the beach. Revealing someone that had been sitting near him.

Tails waved shyly to the pink hedgehog and she motioned for him to sit down on the picnic blanket. _How did Sonic know where to find her? And why?_

"You know, you were really close to not making my plan work with your ice-cream of choice," Amy said with a sweet smile.

 _Shadow was right! Why didn't he speak up?!_ Tails shrugged, "Don't blame me! I had no idea! But let me take a little guess... it's obviously some type of combination you came up with."

Amy laughed, "Close, Tails, but it's not really my own recipe. See, I have a book on magic, which you probably wouldn't believe."

"Seeing Sonic with make-up on his face has made me believe a lot of things," The two-tailed fox commented, "Not to mention, there are a lot of things I've seen through my years of being Sonic's friend, even if I haven't been by his side all the time."

"Right."

"So, you'd need ingredients for your little 'potions' wouldn't you? Where did you get those from? The Black Market?" Tails eyed her with suspicion.

"That would have to be my second option if the first didn't allow me the ingredients, but I'll let you in on a little secret," Amy moved closer to the two-tailed fox, her mouth near his ear, "Cream's mother, Vanilla, is a more advanced 'magician' than me."

"I didn't expect you two to get so cosy," Sonic said, returning to their spot under the tree, looking at them in a questioning manner.

Amy quickly moved away, returning to her spot next to the picnic basket, "Oh no, I was just talking to him."

"By being right next to his ear? I'm pretty sure my lil' bro isn't deaf," Sonic joked, sitting beside the two-tailed fox, smiling warmly at Tails and winking at him.

 _Is he... playing along? So... maybe the 'potion' didn't actually do anything. Maybe... he grabbed the wrong ice-cream container,_ all of these were still just simple hopes to the kit. He moved his right tail to his side to pat it, looking at Sonic, who was still looking at him, and gave Sonic the thumbs up.

"So... planning anything for the rest of the afternoon? I don't really recommend swimming, Sonic's still not very good at it," Tails laughed.

"Oh c'mon, at least I know how to not sink to the bottom and drown," Sonic rolled his eyes, "All without a life-jacket, might I add."

"No, I had other plans that are more for a private discussion," Amy said, keeping her voice down. She turned her attention to Tails, "Why'd you come here anyway? Everything is fine, is it not?"

"Oh, I was just double checking, is all I came here to do. I'll just leave you guys to it," Tails said, about to stand up, being stopped by Sonic grabbed his wrist and pulling him down to whisper.

"Tell Shadow I meant nothing of it, I just want to see Amy's reaction when I tell her that her plan backfired."

"How did you know?"

Sonic snorted, "How can I don't know when she had her signature written on the bottom of the container. I swapped the ice-cream containers before purchase."

"So... Shadow did waste a perfect container of ice-cream," Tails glared at Sonic as he let him go, but quickly laughed, "I expect you back before sun-down Sonic."

"Oh... I didn't know I had a curfew."

Deciding not to go on after the snarky reply, Tails left. _I sure hope he doesn't come back with bruises._

* * *

"So, what happened?" Shadow asked, watching the two-tailed fox enter. The ebony hedgehog was standing where he was when Tails had left, standing next to the counter in the kitchen.

"Sonic just playing around. He knew Amy was planning something, since the original container of ice-cream he got has Amy's signature on the bottom."

"What... an... idiot," Shadow shook his head. _She is so pathetic._

"I know right," Tails laughed, "I wish I took a picture of Sonic with make-up on."

"Excuse me?" Shadow asked in disbelief, looking at Tails with confusion.

"It was a brilliant sight to-"

A blue blur sped past Tails and hid behind the ebony hedgehog, curling up into a ball on the ground.

"Sonic?" Shadow questioned, turning to look at the blue ball.

"Sonic! Oh, where did he go?" Amy's voice said as she came to the open door and looked at Tails and Shadow, "Oh hi. Did Sonic come in through here?"

Shadow side-stepped to reveal the blue ball on the ground.

Amy laughed, "I'm not going to hit you. Actually... I wanted to apologise."

"Youff!" Sonic shouted, his voice muffled. He uncurled himself and jumped up in a prepared stance, "As if! Look at what you've done! I highly doubt you're going to give up!"

"Please just believe me," Amy walked towards the blue hedgehog, but Shadow stood in her way.

"With what you've done over the past few weeks, I doubt any of use want to see your face for quite some time. How about you come back when you've learnt to plan your plans thoroughly?" Shadow replied.

"Oh, but I did come prepared," Amy said, reaching into a pocket on the back of her dress.

"Shadow!" Sonic shouted quickly, moving to push Shadow out of the way, thinking that Amy was going to take out her hammer.

She threw the silver dust into Sonic's face, immediately regretting her actions, "Sonic!"

Sonic coughed, rubbing his eyes, "Ow! Ow! My eyes! It burns!"

Tails ran to the tap, pouring water into a cup and rushing back to the blue hedgehog to throw it into his eyes.

"Thanks," Sonic muttered, opening his eyes slowly, appearing bloodshot.

Amy was shaking her head, quickly looking at the bag. It seems she hadn't come prepared.

"Why am I carrying a bag of sand?!" She asked loudly, throwing the bag onto the ground.

"Oh... are you looking for this?" Sonic asked, coughing slightly as he took a bag out from his quills, "I don't know what this 'antidote' does, but I'm sure you won't be needing it."

"You do realise that having that thrown in your face would have been better than the sand," Shadow commented, rolling his eyes, "I truly am surrounded by idiots."

"Hey! How would you like it if you had sand in your eyes?"

"But you replaced the bag! You should have known -"

"I thought she was taking out her hammer," Sonic retorted, angrily, "But hey, maybe it would have been a better idea had I just kept my mouth shut and played Cluedo with Amy."

All eyes then turned to Amy.

"Is that all you wanted?! To play Cluedo with Sonic?" Tails asked in complete surprise, "And all this time I thought you wanted to marry him."

"Well... I wanted to take it slow... you know," Amy knocked her foot on the ground shyly.

"Amy. I'm going to tell you this for what feels like the 50 millionth time," Sonic put his hands on her shoulders, "You are a brilliant friend... but that's it."

"Are you sure?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"Positive," Sonic smiled, "We can still play Cluedo though... although, I can't see very well, so you are Amy right? I didn't confuse you with Shadow, did I?"

"Oh... very funny," Amy glared at him and shook his hands off, "I didn't bring the game with me."

"It should just be in the cup- OW!" Sonic walked into the wall as he went to find the board game.

Shadow walked over to Sonic, grabbing a hold of his hand, "I'll take you to the bathroom, Tails will go and get the game."

"Thanks Shads," Sonic muttered, putting a hand over his forehead, "Was that the corner I ran into?"

"No, it was just a plain wall."

"Then what is this?" Sonic grabbed a hold of Shadow's thigh.

"Sonic... don't make me hit you," The black hedgehog growled.

"You'd hit a blind person?"

"Stop joking around and mind the step," Shadow said as Sonic, deliberately, tripped over the step, pulling Shadow down on top of him.

"You did that on purpose," The ebony hedgehog muttered in Sonic's ear.

"Yes, yes I did. You see, I'm not really blind," Sonic commented, crawling out from underneath Shadow and sitting on the bathroom floor.

Shadow kicked the door closed and sat up, pouncing onto the blue hedgehog.

"Hey! What about the board game?" Sonic asked with a smirk, lying his arms out across the floor.

"You wouldn't have walked into the wall if you really cared about playing a stupid board game," The black hedgehog commented, resting his hands on either side of Sonic's head.

"Are you guys okay in there?" Tails asked from behind the closed door.

"Never better!" Sonic yelled out, watching Shadow, "So, what do you have in mind? Keep in mind that Amy is here and I doubt she's really gotten over me. I'm just so irresistible."

Shadow just started dully at him, not telling the one below him what he had in mind.


End file.
